Psoriasis drug could potentially treat childhood diabetes

Children and young people at Evelina London Children's Hospital were involved in a research study testing the effectiveness of Ustekinumab in type 1 diabetes.

Ustekinumab is an established immunotherapy that has been used to treat psoriasis since 2009. This new clinical trial, led by Cardiff University, involved clinicians and researchers from Evelina London Children's Hospital and King's College London, and took place at 16 UK centres. The study found Ustekinumab to be effective in treating the early stages of type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body's immune system attacks and destroys the cells of the body that produce insulin. This eventually leaves the person dependent on insulin injections. Researchers are developing ways to slow or stop the immune system attack and hope that if such treatments can be started early, before all the insulin-making cells are lost, the need for people with type 1 diabetes to take insulin would be reduced or avoided.

The study findings, published in Nature Medicine, showed Ustekinumab is effective in preserving the body's ability to produce insulin in type 1 diabetes. This brings the goal of managing type 1 diabetes without insulin a step closer.

While the trial demonstrates the benefit of using Ustekinumab to treat type 1 diabetes, further clinical trials are required to confirm this finding and to work out which patients would benefit most from the treatment.

Dr Michal Ajzensztejn, the principal investigator for the study at Evelina London Children's Hospital, said: "We are so grateful to the young people who agreed to take part in this study in the Wolf clinical research facility at Evelina London Children's Hospital after recently being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. By being involved they have helped improve understanding of a potential new treatment for the condition."

Shelley Mieres, matron of Evelina London's Wolf and Seal clinical research facilities, said: "As a specialist children's hospital, we have an important role to play in driving forward new treatments and our specialist children's research team are working on more than 180 studies with academic partners worldwide. We want every child or young person who agrees to take part in a research study at Evelina London to feel safe, comfortable, and a sense of normalcy. Our fantastic team of paediatric research nurses and our dedicated children's clinical research facilities, Wolf and Seal, are so important to us creating the welcoming environment children and young people want and need."