Researchers at the Autònoma University of Barcelona (UAB) have managed to completely cure type 1 diabetes in dogs through a single gene therapy session.Although the same team achieved years ago a similar mileThe UAB and director of the Center for Animal Biotechnology and gene therapy (CBATEG), on the Bellaterra campus.
Four years after diabetic dogs - with the non -operational pancreas - the viral vector with curators, animals are in perfect condition, run normally and do not need insulin injections.They do not have any side effect, even on weight.
With caution, however, Bosch recalled that "these processes are slow, in addition to expensive", and that many essays "will be necessary before trying it in humans."In fact, the goal is now to reproduce the experiment, which has been carried out with five Beagle dogs, with other races and then with pigs.
The therapy "is very little invasive," says the UAB professor.It consists of a single session of several injections in the muscle of the hind legs of the animal through simple needles, similar to those used in aesthetics treatments.With these injections, vectors are introduced into the muscle, specifically inert viruses to which two specific genes have been introduced, which will then be responsible for the expansion of gene therapy by the legs.
introduction of two genes
The therapy has a double objective: to express the insulin gene, on the one hand, and that of glycoquinase, on the other.Glucoquinase, an enzyme, acts as a regulator of blood glucose collection.When both genes act simultaneously they function of a "glucose sensor", achieving an automatic regulation of blood glucose collection and thus reducing diabetic hyperglycemia (excess glucose associated with the disease).That is, as if the pancreas worked correctly.
So far multiple clinical trials with similar vectors have been carried out, called adenasociated (AAV), directly administered in the skeletal muscle for the treatment of other diseases, "so the strategy described in this work can be transferred to the clinic", the UAB concludes.
The research participated in the research, in various departments of the UAB, of the Cyber Network of Metabolic Diseases, of Children 's Hospital of Philadelphia (USA) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute of Philadelphia (USA).
Antonio Madridejos / Bellaterra
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