Type 1 diabetes: First clinical trial of GABA/GAD in newly diagnosed, very young children

Medical Xpress / University of Alabama at Birmingham / Nature Communications ^ | Feb. 22, 2023 | Jeff Hansen / Alexandra Martin et al

[ConservativeMind]

For the first time, humans with type 1 diabetes, or T1D, have received two treatments called GABA and GAD that have shown promise in animal studies and in isolated human pancreas islets. This clinical trial focused exclusively on children with recent onset T1D.

Strategies to ameliorate or cure T1D target the preservation of insulin-secreting beta cells and/or attenuation of the relative excess of alpha cell glucagon. Most importantly, concerning the inhibition of alpha cell glucagon in this trial by GABA/GAD, recent studies in animals made diabetic have shown that inhibition of glucagon leads to expansion of insulin-secreting beta cells and improvements in hyperglycemia.

The study—which was constrained to lower-dose GABA therapy—did not achieve preservation of insulin production by beta cells.

However, it did meet the clinically relevant outcome of reduced serum glucagon. Significantly, the trial confirmed the safety and tolerability of oral GABA.

GABA is gamma aminobutyric acid, a major inhibitory neurotransmitter. In the pancreas, GABA participates in paracrine regulation—meaning a hormone that acts on nearby cells—on the beta cells that produce insulin and the alpha cells that produce glucagon.

In various mouse model studies, GABA was able to delay diabetes onset, and restore normal blood glucose levels after diabetes had already commenced. GABA treatment also led to significant decreases in inflammatory cytokine expression.

GAD is glutamic acid decarboxylase, the enzyme that acts on glutamate to form GABA. Animal and pancreatic islet cell studies show that immunization with GAD alone may help preserve beta cells. Both GABA and GAD are highly concentrated in the pancreatic islet, which is the autoimmune target of T1D.

"Given that GABA reduces immune inflammation at higher doses in several diabetic rodent models, it is plausible that increased GABA doses, or longer-acting preparations, could preserve islet cells, particularly during stage 1 diabetes," said Gail Mick, M.D.

[ConservativeMind]

GABA is available is supplement form.

[ConservativeMind]

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[RightInEastLansing]

What about gabagool?