Rituxan is normally used to treat lymphoma, rheumatoid arthritis and other immune disorders.
“If the drug is effective, it could help prevent some of the long-term complications that plague diabetics”, said Dr Mark Pescovitz, professor of surgery and of microbiology and immunology, Indiana University.
Studies have shown that type 1 diabetics who retain some pancreas function have fewer complications of diabetes, which include heart disease, circulatory problems, loss of vision and kidney damage.
Dr Pescovitz believes the drug could be effective because it attacks a key component of the immune system, one that appears to play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes develops in children when their pancreas stops making enough insulin, the body’s compound used to metabolize sugar. The disease is an immune system disorder in which white blood cells called T-cells turn their attention to their own body’s pancreas, attacking it as though it was an external invader. Nobody knows why this occurs.