Early immune clues could help detect and prevent type 1 diabetes
Researchers from Penn Medicine have uncovered new clues in pancreas lymph nodes and the spleen that may stop the disease before insulin is lost forever.
2 min. read
For most people with type 1 diabetes (T1D), by the time they are diagnosed, most of the body's insulin-producing cells are destroyed. Now, pinpointing a hidden group of immune “attack” cells in the pancreatic lymph nodes that appear earlier in the disease could offer the first real chance to detect—and even stop—T1D, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine, published in Science Immunology.
“For the first time, this research has caught the attack cells in the act, while the disease is still unfolding; we’re not just seeing the wreckage after the immune system destroys insulin producing cells in the pancreas,” says Golnaz Vahedi, a professor of genetics and co-corresponding author of the study.
Analyzing nearly one million immune cells—one cell at a time—from the pancreatic lymph nodes and spleens of 43 organ donors, some with T1D, some showing early warning signs, and some healthy, researchers identified a unique subset of CD4 T-cells: a type of “helper” immune cell in the pancreatic lymph nodes of people with active T1D. These cells ramp up two proteins, NFKB1 and BACH2, that act like master switches, turning genes on and off in ways that rev up the immune attack on insulin-making cells.
“The study showed the same cell pattern occurred in pre-type 1-diabetic people, who don’t yet show the symptoms. This suggests that the immune misfire begins early, potentially while plenty of insulin-producing beta cells are still healthy,” says Vahedi.
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