In an attempt to find a treatment for people with long-standing type 1 diabetes, researchers at the McGill University Health Centre and Montreal's Lady Davis Institute at the Jewish General Hospital have decided to conduct a landmark clinical study to restore normal levels of insulin in patients.

The clinical study will test the effectiveness of a combination of two drugs called INGAP Peptide (ExsulinTM) and ustekinumab (SteleraTM). While ExsulinTM helps stimulate growth of insulin secreting cells in patients, SteleraTM is an approved drug treatment for psoriasis.

This will be the first study that combines a specific islet regeneration agent and a drug to control the autoimmune attach triggered by newly formed islet cells.The research team identified the specific INGAP Peptide in a separate study in which researcher Lawrence Rosenberg isolated the islet regeneration activity and induced islet regeneration

The pattern of the scheduled clinical trial is based on previous trials of INGAP Peptide. The study trial showed improvement in glucose control and insulin secretion in people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

The research team says that a majority of attempts at developing a treatment for type 1 diabetes focus on controlling autoimmune attack which cannot maintain the insulin levels by itself. Although a number of other alternatives have been tested for islet regeneration activity, only INGAP Peptide has been further developed and tested in patients for further use.

The researchers say that it is clear that both – control of autoimmune attack and regeneration of islet activity – will be required for development of a treatment for type 1 diabetes.

“Though our study is small, we know that the return of significant insulin secretion in just one person with this combination could represent a major finding," said Rosenberg, in a press statement.

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