A medication given to patients to cure a skin disorder has been found to alleviate symptoms of type 1 diabetes. In a small trial that was conducted on patients from US, doctors found that the drug called alefacept , when given to treat skin ailments helped the body of the patients to produce insulin which is a key element in control of type 1 diabetes.
Nearly 400,000 people in UK are afflicted with type 1 diabetes. Researchers are excited with the findings saying that this drug may offer better treatment possibilities for patients of type I diabetes though it is clear that further research is necessary before moving in this direction. Amevive is the brand name of the drug alefacept available in the market and doctors prescribed to for the cure of psoriasis before the manufacturer withdrew it from the markets in the year 2011. However, Amevive was not approved to be sold in European countries.
Psoriasis is a condition when the body’s own immune system starts to attack skin cells that are healthy. When the action of the drug was scrutinised, it was found that in addition to attacking T-cells of the skin, the drug also attacked cells that produced insulin in case of type 1 diabetic patients.
Surprised, researches sought to verify if this drug could help patients with type I diabetes. In a trial, 33 patients suffering from type I diabetes were given weekly injections of the drug for 12 weeks followed by no drug for another 12 weeks. This was followed by injections for another 12 weeks.
There was another group that was provided with placebos and not the actual drug. Scientists found that there was significant difference in the level of insulin 4 hours after eating produced in the bodies of patients receiving the drug.
