TB vaccine may help people with Type-1 diabetes
New York, June 24 : A vaccine primarily used for treating tuberculosis (TB) may be effective in reducing high blood sugar among people with Type - 1 diabetes, results from a clinical trial has revealed.
Type - 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produce little or no insulin.
The findings showed that, three years after receiving two administrations of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine four weeks apart, people with longstanding Type-1 diabetes showed an improvement in HbA1c -- Aglycated haemoglobin -- measured to test the overall sugar levels to near normal levels.
"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 disease," said Denise Faustman, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Immunobiology Laboratory, US.
The study, published in the journal npj Vaccine, also reported that the effects of BCG vaccine on blood sugar control appear to depend on a totally novel metabolic mechanism that increases cellular consumption of glucose.
The team analysed data from 282 human study participants -- 52 with Type-1 diabetes who participated in the BCG clinical trials and 230 who contributed blood samples for mechanistic studies.
The results showed that the HbA1c levels of those receiving BCG had dropped by more than 10 per cent in three years after treatment and by more than 18 per cent in four years.
The study showed that BCG vaccination induces epigenetic reprogramming at the chromatin architecture level and functional alterations indicative of a permanent change in immunity.
Thus, the clinical effects and the proposed mechanism add to the emerging consensus that the BCG vaccine can have a lasting and valuable impact on the immune system, the researchers said.
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Nainar Nagenthran elected as Tamil Nadu BJP chief
Chennai, Apr 12 (PTI): BJP MLA Nainar Nagenthran was on Saturday elected as president of the party's Tamil Nadu state unit, with outgoing chief K Annamalai declaring that the goal is to oust the ruling DMK from the corridors of power and the path, to be led by Nagenthran, in alliance with the AIADMK is clear.
BJP leader and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, and party national general secretary Tarun Chugh, at a party meeting here, declared Nagenthran duly elected as Tamil Nadu unit president.
Annamalai, in his address, said the goal is to dislodge the 'evil shakthi' the DMK from power in the 2026 Assembly election. Referring to the party joining forces with the AIADMK and with Nagenthran all set to take over as state unit chief, he said the path is also pretty clear and declared that the choice of Nagenthran is unanimous.
