Category Archives: Psoriasis

MONDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- A drug formerly used to treat the skin condition psoriasis shows promise in treating type 1 diabetes, according to a new study.

Both psoriasis and type 1 diabetes are autoimmune disorders. The drug alefacept (Amevive) is an immune-suppressing drug that was used to treat psoriasis but was withdrawn by its manufacturer in 2011. The drug maker, Astellas Pharma U.S., said at the time that "business needs" led to its decision to pull the drug from the market.

The new study included 49 type 1 diabetes patients at 14 medical centers in the United States. Thirty-three of the patients received weekly injections of alefacept for 12 weeks, followed by a break of 12 weeks and then another 12 weekly doses of the drug. Sixteen patients received a placebo on the same schedule.

The clinical trial's main outcome was a measure of how well the pancreas could secrete insulin in response to food, two hours after eating. Using this measure, the researchers found no significant differences between the two groups of patients.

They did, however, find a significant difference between the two groups of patients four hours after eating. The patients who received alefacept showed maintained insulin secretion, while insulin secretion in the placebo group decreased. (People with type 1 diabetes don't produce insulin, a hormone needed to convert food into energy.)

The researchers also found that patients who received alefacept showed no significant increase in insulin use during the course of the clinical trial, but patients in the placebo group did. And 12 months after starting treatment, insulin use by patients in the placebo group was significantly higher than in the alefacept group.

Patients who received alefacept also had few episodes of low blood glucose levels (hypoglycemia), which are a common and dangerous occurrence in patients requiring insulin shots, according to the study, which was published in the Sept. 23 issue of the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

The findings suggest that alefacept preserved the body's ability to produce its own insulin, said study leader Mark Rigby, of the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, and colleagues.

"Alefacept is the first targeted biological drug assessed in patients with new-onset type 1 diabetes that significantly depleted the T cells that attack the pancreas in type 1 diabetes, while preserving other immune cells that are important for pancreatic function," Rigby said in a journal news release.

One expert noted that researchers are slowly but surely finding a way to fight type 1 diabetes.

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A new treatment for type 1 diabetes may lie in an existing drug for other autoimmune diseases, according to a new study, published today in The Lancet. Researchers from the Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University found that the drug alefacept, used to treat psoriasis for more than a decade, can also help treat type 1 diabetes and reduce the need for insulin injections. But with the drug manufacturer ceasing production, the finding may serve more as a proof-of-concept than a promising new treatment.

Researchers tested alefacept, sold under the brand name Amevive, on 33 people over the course of a year, and compared them to 16 people who were given a placebo. After 12 months, insulin use was much higher in the placebo group than in the group that was given alefacept, according to the study. But the drug didnt reduce their need for insulin, researchers said, it simply stopped it from getting worse.

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"It is the first targeted biological drug assessed in patients with new-onset type 1 diabetes that significantly depleted the T cells which attack the pancreas in type 1 diabetes, while preserving other immune cells which are important for pancreatic function, study author Mark Rigby, MD, an assistant professor in the department of pediatrics at Indiana University, said in a statement.

But while the drug showed promise, its unclear just how effective it was, said Karin Hehenberger, MD, PhD, a diabetes specialist and executive vice president of scientific affairs for Coronado Biosciences.

Its great to see this mechanism, but just showing that insulin requirement is reduced is extremely difficult to prove, Dr. Hehenberger said. Theres so much that drives insulin use. One person might start exercising or eating better, so controlling for this in a study is very difficult.

Hehenberger said it would be more promising if the study showed consistent, reduced A1C levels, a biomarker that shows how well blood sugar is controlled.

In addition, while the drug showed promise, it was voluntarily taken off the market in December 2011, Hehenberger said.

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