Type 1 Diabetes Study Points to New Treatments

 New research produces findings for a University of Virginia team studying Type 1 diabetes. 

CHARLOTTESVILLE – Scientists at the University of Virginia recently completed the largest and most diverse genetic study of type 1 diabetes ever undertaken.

Written By Amie Knowles. Originally Published July 23, 2021 

Through the study, researchers identified new drug targets to treat the condition, which affects 1.6 million American adults and children.

New Findings

“One of the nice things that’s happened over time is that there’s been development of a whole series of drugs addressing auto-immune diseases. And so there is a drug based upon an interleukin 23 alpha gene that is available for rheumatoid arthritis, and it seems to be doing well,” Rich said. “Now before, the gene for rheumatoid arthritis – that is one of many genes, rheumatoid arthritis – but this gene was not a gene for type 1 diabetes. But with our study, we now find that it is. And so suddenly, we have drugs for other auto-immune diseases that are on the market, that are being used, that have not been used before for type 1 diabetes. Now, this points to drugs that might be able to be used.” - Dr. Stephen Rich, one of the study’s researchers, serves as the director of the Center for Public Health Genomics within the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine. He also serves as a professor of Public Health Sciences and a professor of Biochemistry, Microgenetics and Biology.

FULL ARTICLE AT Courier Newsroom