A study by Australian researchers has uncovered a new treatment with the potential to slow down or prevent kidney damage in people with diabetes, even when blood glucose and blood pressure levels remain chronically high.

About one-third of people with type 1 (juvenile) diabetes develop a severe form of kidney disease (diabetic nephropathy) by the time they are 50. As a result, diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure in the Australia, accounting for 40 percent of new cases each year. Kidney disease is the second leading cause of death among people with diabetes.

Current treatments, which revolve around good blood sugar and blood pressure control, can require up to 7 insulin injections each day and 3 to 5 different blood pressure tablets.

In an animal study funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), a team of researchers at Melbourne's St Vincent's Hospital led by Associate Professor Richard Gilbert has found that a drug known as LY333531 is highly effective in treating diabetic nephropathy. The drug belongs to a whole new class of therapy based on inhibiting a central player in diabetic complications, called protein kinase C.

"This is the first therapy we have found that is able to substantially reduce injury even when blood glucose levels and blood pressure remain high, said A/Prof Gilbert. "This is particularly encouraging as these conditions generally go hand-in-hand with diabetic nephropathy."

The effectiveness of LY333531 was studied in a unique type of laboratory rat, the diabetic Ren-2 rat, developed by Dr Darren Kelly with the support of JDRF. The absence of a suitable laboratory animal to study kidney disease has been a major obstacle for researchers in the past.

Dr Kelly, also at St Vincent's Hospital, commented on the importance of doing the tests in the right model, saying that "Unlike most other animal models, the diabetic Ren-2 rat develops kidney disease that is almost identical to that in humans with diabetes, making our studies highly relevant to human diabetes".

The highly promising results have been published in the international journal Diabetes.

A textbook example of the power of scientific collaboration, A/Prof Gilbert and Dr Kelly both commented that their ability to exchange ideas and jointly plan their studies was a key to their research successes.

The drug, which is safe for use in humans, has already demonstrated potential in treating diabetes-related eye disease (retinopathy) in clinical (human) trials. The new therapy represents a completely new approach to treating and preventing diabetic complications.

"Current therapies, such as medications to lower blood glucose or blood pressure, focus on mechanisms that occur outside the cell or on the surface of the cell," said A/Prof Gilbert.

"This therapy is able to target the pathways within the cell that cause damage, and as such represents an important new approach to preventing the development and progression of kidney damage. The next step is to determine its effectiveness in human clinical trials," he said.

With its ability to halt and prevent injury, LY333531 promises to have a significant impact on the level of diabetes related health complications suffered by the estimated 1 million Australians with diabetes.

"Diabetes places an enormous financial burden on patients, their families and the community, with recent studies suggesting it costs over $6 billion a year to treat," said Sheila Royles, CEO of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

"Diabetes complications are responsible for the highest costs associated with the disease, so we can't underestimate the importance of investing in complications research. We desperately need treatments which not only allow people to live longer, healthier lives, but will also help avert a staggering healthcare burden in the future."

JDRF, the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide, was founded in 1970 by the parents of children with juvenile diabetes - a disease which strikes children suddenly, makes them insulin-dependent for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications. Since inception, JDRF has provided more than US$600 million in direct funding to diabetes research. JDRF's mission is constant: to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research.

Assoc Prof Gilbert is available for interview.

For further information:

Karolyn Andrews, Media & PR Manager, JDRF
Ph. 02 9966 0400 (x203) or 0403 787 077 | email: kandrews@jdrf.org.au