Type 1 diabetes therapy shown to be safe

The first trial of a pioneering therapy to retrain the immune system and slow the advance of type 1 diabetes has shown it is safe.

Experts said the advance could one day free people from daily injections.

The disease is caused by the body destroying cells in the pancreas that control blood sugar levels.

The immunotherapy, which has been tested on 27 people in the UK, also showed signs of slowing the disease, but this needs to be confirmed.

Immunotherapies try to get regulatory T cells on-side by exposing them to fragments of proteins found in beta cells.

Patients given the therapy did not need to increase their dose of insulin during the trial. However, it is too soon to say this therapy stops type 1 diabetes - larger clinical trials are needed.

Professor Mark Peakman, from King’s College London, told the BBC: “This is a landmark in the sense it's the first time it has been done.

"Importantly, [the trial] shows the overall safety is good and there is some evidence we're restoring the balance and getting some regulatory T cells activated.”

Karen Addington, the UK chief executive of the type 1 diabetes charity JDRF, said: “Exciting immunotherapy research like this increases the likelihood that one day insulin-producing cells can be protected and preserved.

"That would mean people at risk of type 1 diabetes might one day need to take less insulin, and perhaps see a future where no-one would ever face daily injections to stay alive."