A research team from the University of Helsinki in Finland has found that a drug that treats psoriasis can be used to prevent type 1 diabetes. According to the study published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications, researchers have shown that efficacy of the drug called “Deucravacitinib”, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, in inhibiting the gene associated with the onset of the disease.
The researchers speculated that inhibition of gene expression (TYK2) could reduce the destruction of the “pancreatic beta cells” that cause type 1 diabetes, as these cells produce the body’s vital insulin, with which diabetics must replace insulin injections. The hypothesis was confirmed in the study, effectively stopping the destruction of “beta cells” by inhibiting the expression of the gene (TYK2).
“The destruction of the[cellule beta]is the result of an autoimmune reaction, in which white blood cells activated by the body’s immune system attack their own tissues and use a TYK2 gene inhibitor, “says Timo Otunkowski, professor at the University of Helsinki and lead author of the study, in a report published on the university’s website It is the approved drug for psoriasis and the destruction caused by white blood cells was significantly reduced. In light of these results, which were performed on human cells in vitro, the inhibitor gene (TYK2) is a promising candidate drug for the prevention of type 1 diabetes and the next step is to carefully study its effect in animal models and if the results are positive, the next step can be done for clinical experiments.
The proposed mechanism for using this drug is as a preventive drug for people at high risk of developing the disease.
Otunkowski adds: “Although hundreds of pathogenic genes have been identified, the mechanisms of action of most of them were still unclear. In other words, we could have identified individuals at high risk of developing the disease, but none were found. effectively prevent the development of the disease without the risk of effects. The big negative and the proposed drug could be an adequate solution “.
