Vaccine From Massachusetts General Researchers May Cure Diabetes

A study released Thursday shows that a vaccine may help in curing type 1 diabetes.

Massachusetts General Hospital recently published the results from the long-term clinical testing. 

The results indicated that a tuberculosis vaccine worked in type 1 diabetes patients in restoring close to normal blood sugar levels.These results remained constant even in adults with longstanding type 1 diabetes.

Denise Faustman, director of the MGH Immunobiology Laboratory, worked on the vaccine to examine its healing properties. 

"This is clinical validation of the potential to stably lower blood sugars to near normal levels with a safe vaccine, even in patients with longstanding diseases,” Faustman said in a statement. 

The BCG vaccine has been used to prevent tuberculosis for almost a century, but it is now being used for diabetes patients because it raises levels of TNF, a cytokine that helps prevent the autoimmune system from attacking pancreatic cells.

The study is still in the second phase of clinical trial, and trials worldwide are occurring.