New drug reverses diabetes in mice, boosting insulin-making cells by 700% | One day this research could lead to game-changing new treatments for diabetes
https://www.techspot.com/news/103844-new-drug-reverses-diabetes-mice-boosting-insulin-making.html
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From the article: While there are many therapies available to treat diabetes, none have proven to completely reverse this disease. That may change as [research](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.adg3456) from the Mount Sinai Health System and the City of Hope continues to progress. Researchers from these institutions have demonstrated a treatment that increases human insulin-producing beta cells in vivo for the first time, normalizing glucose levels in diabetic mice models. “It’s very exciting to be close to seeing this novel treatment used in patients,” said one of the researchers. “There is nothing like this available to patients right now.”
Scientists from Mount Sinai Health System in New York City and the Los Angeles-based City of Hope, a research center for diabetes and one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the US, have demonstrated a combination treatment that can increase human insulin-producing beta cells in vivo for the first time, opening the door for new treatments for people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The treatment combines harmine, a natural product found in some plants, with GLP1 receptor agonists, a class of type 2 diabetes therapy.
Harmine is a natural compound found in some plants that inhibits the enzyme Dual-specificity Tyrosine-Regulated Kinase 1A (DYRK1A). This enzyme normally maintains quiescence in adult human beta cells, essentially putting the brakes on beta cell proliferation. By inhibiting DYRK1A, harmine removes these brakes, allowing beta cells to proliferate.
GLP1 receptor agonists work in conjunction with harmine to further stimulate beta cell proliferation. While these drugs don’t cause beta cell proliferation on their own, they synergize with harmine to significantly boost the effect.
The combination therapy has been shown to normalize glucose levels in diabetic mouse models, outperforming either drug alone. In preclinical studies, the combination therapy rapidly reversed diabetes and increased human beta cell numbers by 700 percent in the mice over three months.
I’m genuinely not sure why these news are relevant, I see any other day miraculous drugs working well in mice. It takes forever years to reach human trials (if ever) and then most of the times nothing works. I mean it’s just creating false hopes that “soon” we cure diabetes (in this case), what’s the point of all of these articles? I’m all for drugs discovery and advancements, but unfortunately most of those news are absolutely useless :/
The last 30 years have been a fantastic era to be a diabetic mouse, they’ve found so many cures and treatments that work on them.
Still waiting for one that applies to humans.