Current Research into Cures for Type-1 Diabetes: Pioglitazone

Showing posts with label Pioglitazone. Show all posts

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Three Unsuccessful Trials

This blog posting summarizes several clinical trials aimed at curing type-1 diabetes which have failed. These are never fun, happy blog postings, but they are important. One of the big problems with trying to understand research based on mass media reporting is that failures are rarely covered at all. The soundtrack for this posting is "Down" by Melissa Lambert:
http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Down/4BHhwn

Sitagliptin and Lansoprazole Unsuccessful in Phase-II Trial

This was a combination therapy. The researchers were attempting to combine a drug to stop the autoimmune attack and another drug to trigger beta cell growth. Both drugs were approved for other purposes, and commonly used. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Summary from abstract:

At 12 months, the mean change in C-peptide area under curve was −229 pmol/L for the treatment group and −253 pmol/L for the placebo group; this difference was not significant (p=0·77).

Abstract: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213858714701159
Blog at start of trial: http://cureresearch4type1diabetes.blogspot.com/2010/08/possible-cures-for-type-1-in-news-mid.html

Pioglitazone Unsuccessful in Phase-I Trial

Pioglitazone has been approved for use in type-2 diabetes for over 10 years. It is part of a larger drug family called thiazolidinediones which have been shown to preserve beta cells in animals with type-1 diabetes, and to reduce death of beta cells in petri dishes. It was being tested as a honeymoon cure, but did not pan out:

Conclusion: In this pilot study, pioglitazone did not preserve β cell function when compared to placebo.

Article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3890222/
Previous blogging: http://cureresearch4type1diabetes.blogspot.com/search/label/Pioglitazone

Stop Covering Lisofylline

As far as I can tell, no one has done human trials of this treatment for over two years, so I'm going to stop considering it as a possible cure, unless something new comes to light. Lisofylline is an anti-inflammatory.

Previous coverage (one blog posting) is here:
http://cureresearch4type1diabetes.blogspot.com/search/label/Lisofylline

Joshua Levy
http://cureresearch4type1diabetes.blogspot.com
publicjoshualevy at gmail dot com
All the views expressed here are those of Joshua Levy, and nothing here is official JDRF, JDCA, or Tidepool news, views, policies or opinions. My daughter has type-1 diabetes and participates in clinical trials, which might be discussed here. My blog contains a more complete non-conflict of interest statement. Thanks to everyone who helps with the blog.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Wilson's Pioglitazone Phase-I Study is half way enrolled

Dr. Wilson was kind enough to tell me that his Phase-I study of Pioglitazone is about half way enrolled. They are hoping to enroll 15 people total. The study is a pilot one, being done at Stony Brook, NY, USA. Pioglitazone has been approved for use in type-2 diabetes for about 10 years. Pioglitazone is part of a larger drug family called thiazolidinediones which have been shown to preserve beta cells in animals with type-1 diabetes, and to reduce death of beta cells in petri dishes.

This study is also unusual in that it will enroll children as young as six. I assume that is at least in part because they are working with an already approved drug with a known safety profile. Open to patients within 4 months of dx.

For those of you who are near Stanford University, the Dr. Wilson doing this trial is different than the Dr. Wilson who is at Stanford.

Joshua Levy

This blog discusses cures and preventatives for type-1 diabetes that are either in human trials or just about to start. Treatments for diabetes are not generally discussed here, unless they can turn into a cure or a preventative. My definition of a cure is this:
1. Blood sugar control without testing and with doctor's visits 4 times a year, or less. Any cure must result in an average lifespan close to normal.
2. Does not require a lifetime of immunsuppressive drugs, so it is not trading one treatment for another. (but a couple of operations, or a short course of drugs is OK)
Obviously, this is my personal definition of a cure; yours may differ.
Because a cure for type-1 diabetes is likely to involve a combination of several different drugs or treatments, I try to follow research into anything which may be an important part of the cure.

My Non-Conflict of Interest Statement

For the first 10 years of running this blog, I did not work for a company doing medical research. In 2018, I started working for Bigfoot Biomedical, which is developing an "automated insulin dosing/delivery solution" (what many call an Artificial Pancreas).
I blog on research aimed at curing type-1 diabetes, and I view Bigfoot Biomedical's work as treating type-1 diabetes (not a cure at all). Therefore, I don't view this work as conflicting with my blogging. However, if you consider the kind of automated insulin dosing/delivery solution that Bigfoot is developing to be an actual cure for type-1, then this would conflict with my blogging. I think they are quite different.
I don't get paid in any way by any company working on a cure for type-1 diabetes; I never have. And that includes free samples, free travel, or free anything. I do sometimes participate in market research studies or focus groups, and they sometimes pay.
None of the hours that I have put into my blog, or the posts that I make to any web site, has ever been paid for. (Except for some very nice and heart felt thank-you emails, and those are worth more than money.)
My daughter has type-1 diabetes and participates in clinical trials. I sometimes report on trials that she participates in, but I do not reveal her participation because I consider her medical history to be private.
I sometimes "beta test" new software or devices involved in type-1 diabetes. When I'm blogging about something where I have been given special access, I say so.
In the past I have volunteered with JDRF and The NIIB Project. I currently am a fellow with JDCA. The JDRF and NIIB work was completely unpaid. JDCA has given me equipment that I use to help my blogging, and on one occasion paid for specific consulting work.