Team reports progress in developing specific immunotherapy for type 1 diabetes

Researchers at Germany’s Institut Trias i Puyol (IGTP) and Ahead Therapeutics SL have been researching liposomal nanoparticle-based therapies to combat autoimmunity in type 1 diabetes for many years.recent research published inside autoimmune journal As a preliminary step before clinical trials, we will examine macrophage responses to this immunotherapy.

Type 1 diabetes is a disease in which the immune system attacks the body’s own insulin-producing cells. This is due to loss of immune tolerance, a mechanism that prevents the body from attacking itself.

Although there has been considerable progress in understanding this condition, administration of exogenous insulin remains the only treatment option. This treatment makes the disease chronic but does not prevent long-term secondary complications.

Although recent immunotherapies such as teplizumab have been successful in delaying the onset of the disease, they are not curative treatments. Therefore, there is a clear need for curative and safe treatments not only for type 1 diabetes but also for other autoimmune diseases.

Antigen-specific immunotherapy, which induces tolerance to self-antigens, has gained momentum in recent years. IGTP’s Diabetes Immunology Research Group and its spin-off Ahead Therapeutics (launched in collaboration with ICN2 and ICREA) are working on immunotherapy based on the use of liposomes that mimic apoptotic cells and shut down the immune system’s erroneous responses. I’m here.

A new study examines the response of macrophages to this immunotherapy. Macrophages, essential to the immune response, are cells that phagocytose particles, such as therapeutic liposomes, and present antigens to cells of the adaptive immune system. The ability to engulf antigens helps stop autoimmune responses and is a potential mechanism of action for this therapy.

IGTP and Ahead Therapeutics researchers, in collaboration with the Sant Pau Institute and Sartorius Stedim, demonstrate that macrophages are the most efficient cells to phagocytose immunotherapy liposomes compared to other antigen-presenting cells did.

According to David Perna-Barrull, one of the first co-authors, “This confirms the benefits of this immunotherapy for type 1 diabetes and provides important preclinical data regarding its mechanism of action. These results , demonstrating the versatility of liposomes in a variety of cells in diabetes.” Immune System. “

Another good news is that changes in blood sugar levels caused by type 1 diabetes do not affect the ability of macrophages to capture and process immunotherapy liposomes. This important function of macrophages remains intact in people who have had the disease for many years compared to people who do not suffer from the disease.

Additionally, this study shows that although macrophages in patients with type 1 diabetes have unique characteristics, Ahead Therapeutics’ immunotherapy is successful in inducing them into a state that promotes immune tolerance. ing. Changes induced by this therapy have been observed in macrophage phenotype and function without affecting macrophage viability, even at high doses.

Perna-Barrull is optimistic about the treatment’s application to other diseases. “We think it works in the same way it works on immune system cells in people with type 1 diabetes, in other autoimmune diseases that are characterized by a loss of tolerance to their own tissues,” he says. Therefore, our results indicate a promising future for the efficacy of immunotherapy in clinical trials for type 1 diabetes, and may also explore potential applications in other autoimmune diseases.

The study’s principal investigator, Marta Vives Pi, leader of the IGTP group, said: “The serious public health problem posed by over 80 existing autoimmune diseases affects one in 10 people. “There is no possibility of developing the disease yet.” She particularly emphasizes the importance of “developing specific, safe immunotherapies that do not cause immunosuppression and fully understanding their mechanisms of action.”

Provided by Trias i Pujol Institute, Germany