Alpha 1 Antitrypsin in the Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes

For the 215,000 Americans under 20 who live daily with insulin pumps and controlled diets as a result of their Type I diabetes, Dr. Lewis’s findings, recently published in the “Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism,” could provide a needed sense of relief. The new treatment for Type I diabetes, developed in collaboration with the University of Colorado Health Science Center, uses an anti-inflammatory serum protein Alpha1-Antitrypsin (AAT) to keep the patient’s glucose levels stable for more than two years without any insulin injections.

The first eight-week treatment was successfully conducted and kept the patients’ blood sugar levels completely in control without insulin. The treatment course consisted of a weekly infusion-drip of AAT, followed by a year-long follow-up with 12 patients.

Lewis expanded on the applications of his research into AAT: “This is an excellent beginning in our mission to determine the exciting possibilities of a safe therapy for autoimmune diabetes,” says Lewis, who is the director of the Ben Gurion University Clinical Islet Laboratory and a lecturer in clinical biochemistry, pharmacology and immunology for the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Reference: ‘Sweet’ Success For Israeli Researchers In The Treatment And Early Detection Of Diabetes