Researchers at the Progress and Health Foundation and health professionals at the Virgen Macarena Sevillian hospital and the provincial node of the Biobanco of the Public Health System of Andalusia have signed a collaboration agreement to prove a possible therapy before type 1 diabetes, a disease that A toToday has no cure.
As reported by the Board in a statement, the investigation program that will be carried out and that is the object of the agreement lasts for five years with the aim of validating the effectiveness of a molecule patented by the research group led by the scientist BenoitGauthier, who develops his work in Cabimer.
The molecule, called BL001, is already being tested and evaluated in experimental models (mice) and in human cells and "is giving good results, so it is conceived as a potential treatment against type 1 diabetes", as explained by theDoctor Gauthier.
The studies that have been carried out in this line of research have shown that BL001 favors the cell transdiffereciation of alpha cells to Beta pancreatic, which means that "it promotes the conversion of alpha cells, -which are producers of the glucagon hormone- (A hormone that raises blood glucose and favors hyperglycemia,) to pancreatic beta cells, responsible for synthesizing, storing and secreting insulin (a hormone that controls blood glucose levels), favoring the regeneration of these cells. "
Additionally, they have found that this molecule is able to reverse the autoimmune attack of type 1 diabetes, as tested in mice and cellular models.This molecule has been shown to favor the anti-inflammatory capacity of certain immune system cells (specificallyType 1 diabetes suffer.
In this sense, and according to the results that have been obtained, the research program that is launched now intends to "continue evaluating the effectiveClinical study with patients ".
The health professionals and clinical researchers of the Endocrinology and Nutrition Unit of the Virgen Macarena University Hospital, led by Dr. María Asuncinez Martínez Brocca, director of the Andalusia Diabetes Plan;And also the professionals of the Provincial Node of Seville of the Biobanco of the Public Health System of Andalusia, with María Isabel García Sánchez as Technical Coordinator.
This program involves an extension of the multicentric collaboration in which health professionals of the Endocrinology and Nutrition Unit of the Puerta del Mar University already participate led by Dr. Manuel Aguilar Diosdado.
The research group led by Gauthier, the Unit of Endocrinology and Nutrition of the Virgen Macarena University Hospital and the biobonco of the health system already currently maintain a scientific collaboration in this disease of the autoimmune system.
As specified by the Board, type 1 diabetes affects, between 5 and ten percent of people with diabetes and, although it can be diagnosed at any age, it is one of the most frequent chronic diseases in childhood andThere is still no solid therapy to combat it.
The professionals who develop these research have the support of different institutions such as the Ministry of Health and Families itself;The JDRF (of the acronym in Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), a non -profit foundation pioneer toworldwide;or the Diabetescero Foundation, composed mainly of fathers and mothers of children with type 1 diabetes and with presence in 17 points of the national territory.
