Arabic version: زوجان من كوينزلاند يساهمان في أبحاث مستهدفة للسكري

According to ABC News, Far North Queensland couple Rafid Al-Hallaf and Zainab Agha are part of research at Johns Hopkins University exploring a potential treatment that targets the autoimmune cause of type 1 diabetes. The pair migrated to Cairns in 2013 to study immunology at James Cook University before contributing to the research published in the Journal of Immunology.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition, with about 134,000 Australians living with it, according to Diabetes Australia. Current treatment replaces insulin that the body can no longer make. Dr Al-Hallaf said the new approach instead seeks to stop the immune system from destroying the cells that produce insulin.

Johns Hopkins scientists led by Abdel-Rahim Hamad identified a previously unrecognised antibody, called x-mAb, produced by immune cells from patients with type 1 diabetes. Dr Hamad said existing immunotherapy can suppress large parts of the immune system, while x-mAb is designed to selectively target the rogue T cells attacking the pancreas.

In an early-stage mouse trial, all 16 mice treated with the antibody returned to normal blood sugar levels, while none of five mice given a placebo went into remission. In a separate three-month experiment involving pre-diabetic mice, about 70 per cent of treated animals remained disease-free. St Vincent’s Institute immunologist Tom Kay, who was not involved in the work, described the findings as promising but noted the mouse trials were short and should run longer to assess lasting effects.

The team must obtain US Food and Drug Administration clearance before human trials can begin. Professor Kay said moving from successful mouse studies through clinical trials would take “definitely a decade, probably more”. Dr Al-Hallaf said he and his family hope eventually to return to Cairns, where they own a home, and he aims to establish a laboratory at James Cook University.