Oral Insulin Tested for Type 1 Diabetes

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has started an international study of the use of oral insulin to prevent or delay type 1 diabetes.

The study is being conducted in more than 100 medical centers across the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.

If diabetes can be delayed, even for several years, those at risk will be spared the difficult challenges of controlling glucose and the development of complications for that much longer, said the study leader, Dr. Jay Skyler of the University of Miami.

Researchers want to determine if an insulin capsule swallowed once daily can prevent or delay diabetes in people at risk for type 1 diabetes. An earlier trial suggested oral insulin might delay type 1 diabetes for about four years in some people with auto-antibodies to insulin in their blood.

The NIH says some scientists believe introducing insulin via the digestive tract induces tolerance, or a quieting of the immune system. Insulin taken orally has no side effects because the digestive system breaks it down quickly; to lower blood glucose, insulin must be injected or administered by an insulin pump.