86% of type 2 diabetes patients treated with a new procedure no longer needed insulin throughout the two-year-long study they participated in. That procedure could be a real game changer for nearly half a billion people currently estimated to be living with the condition worldwide.
Led by Dr. Celine Busch, a researcher at Amsterdam University Medical Center, the study was presented today at this year's United European Gastroenterology Week congress in Vienna, Austria. It was conducted with a small group of 14 participants aged between 28 and 75 years, who were monitored over the course of 24 months.
Type 2 diabetes is a long-term condition that affects the way your body processes blood sugar, aka glucose. The body either resists insulin or doesn't produce enough of it. This results in too much glucose circulating in your bloodstream.
High blood sugar levels can lead to a range of disorders: heart disease, kidney failure, vision issues, nerve damage, and even problems with the feet that eventually necessitate amputation.
Type 2 diabetics may be able to manage the condition through diet and exercise – but if that's not enough, medications or insulin therapy could be needed to regulate their blood sugar and prevent complications. While insulin generally works, it can lead to side effects including weight gain. Plus, insulin can cost a pretty penny, depending on where in the world you live.
In this new study, Dr. Busch carried out a procedure called Recellularization via Electroporation Therapy, or ReCET.
Electroporation is an endoscopic operation that applies controlled electric pulses to "create small, irreversible holes in the cell membranes," and is typically used to facilitate DNA delivery into cells. Here, it's being used to improve the body’s sensitivity to its own insulin.
Interestingly, while this treatment has been proven to enhance the body’s sensitivity to insulin produced internally, the precise mechanism behind it isn't fully understood yet.
Following the endoscopic procedure, the participants followed a strict isocaloric liquid diet for two weeks. They then began a course of weekly semaglutide medication; it's prescribed for treating type 2 diabetics by controlling blood sugar.
At the 6- and 12-month follow-ups, 12 out of 14 participants no longer required insulin therapy. They didn't need it at the 24-month mark either. According to the news release, no serious adverse effects were reported. And only one patient couldn't tolerate the maximum dose of semaglutide, due to nausea.
Dr. Busch noted that these results suggested "ReCET is a safe and feasible procedure that, when combined with semaglutide, can effectively eliminate the need for insulin therapy.”
"Unlike drug therapy, which requires daily medication adherence, ReCET is compliance-free, addressing the critical issue of ongoing patient adherence in the management of type 2 diabetes," she continued. "In addition, the treatment is disease-modifying: it improves the patient's sensitivity to their own (endogenous) insulin, tackling the root cause of the disease, as opposed to currently available drug therapies, that are at best disease-controlling."
Dr. Busch said the research team will conduct larger, randomized trials to validate the findings of this study. Given that this initial trial took two years before its results could be published, it might be a while before ReCET can help cure diabetes more widely.
The procedure follows a string of promising breakthroughs for treating the condition. Last month, we wrote about successful trials of a 'once-a-week' insulin shot for type 1 and type 2 diabetics. And in August, we learned about new tech to detect diabetes from the pitch of your voice, as well as the appearance of your tongue.
Source: UEG