According to a study published in the May 14, 1999, issue of Science, a single protein may stimulate the body immune system to destroy insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, an abnormal reaction that results in type I diabetes, an autoimmune disease. Type I diabetics are insulin dependent and require insulin injections. Type I diabetes usually strikes children and young adults. This finding could be a major step toward formulating new therapies to treat this disease.
In the study, researchers from the University of Calgary in Canada found that a protein called glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) triggered an autoimmune disorder in mice similar to type I diabetes in humans. Furthermore, blocking GAD in the mice prevented the diabetes-like illness from occurring. The study also showed that mice genetically engineered to lack the GAD protein on their pancreatic cells did not develop diabetes. Using different vaccine-based approaches, GAD might be used to prevent type I diabetes.
Researchers hope that immunization of children with GAD might some day produce a vaccine that will prevent diabetes. Vaccine-based approaches for other autoimmune diseases are also being studied in other centers, with promising results.
Sources: Science 1999;284:1183-1187.; The Autoimmune Diseases, Third Edition, edited by Noel R. Rose and Ian R. Mackay; The Johns Hopkins Family Health Book
