Immunotherapies and their potential to preserve beta cells in type 1 diabetes: a review of current immunotherapy.

Abstract

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic immune-mediated disease that leads to the loss of beta cells in the pancreas, clinically characterized by polydipsia, polyphagia, and weight loss. The disease is most prevalent in the first and second decades of life, with a consistent annual increase. The dependence on insulin therapy indefinitely is well known. Although advances in this area, such as new continuous glucose monitoring devices with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion, have improved patient quality of life, they do not affect disease pathogenesis and do not consistently reduce long-term complications. In addition to requiring lifestyle sacrifices and, in many cases, failing to meet therapeutic target points, it increases the risk of hypoglycemia, an acute and potentially fatal complication. Following decades of research and advances in therapeutic technologies, approaches have been developed based on diverse mechanisms in the disease's pathogenesis. This review focuses on new immunotherapy approaches for type 1 diabetes, including cell-targeted therapies, cytokines, and cell transplants to preserve beta-cell function.