A new study has highlighted the need for trials of drugs that aim to stimulate the immune braking system in people with type 1 diabetes. The study, led by University of Edinburgh Professors Helen Colhoun and Paul McKeigue, has found that differences in the ability to put a brake on immune processes is pivotal in type 1 diabetes. Combining data on the genetic determinants of the levels of immune protein in the blood from UK Biobank and other studies, with the genetic information from people with and without diabetes in Scotland, the research team showed that there are genetically driven differences in the levels of these immune braking system proteins (PD-1, TIGIT, LAG3 and IDO1) between people with and without diabetes.Type 1 diabetes affects half a million people in the UK but at present no drugs are licensed in the UK for its prevention.Drugs that aim to stimulate this immune braking system are in development for some other immune conditions such as arthritis and this new study highlights the need to do trials of these novel drugs in people with type 1 diabetes. There is a worldwide effort to discover drugs to prevent type 1 diabetes. Most of the drugs in development target the T-cells in the immune system. Our findings show that targeting the immune checkpoint system is likely to be an effective strategy. Several drug discovery companies in Britain and elsewhere have designed drugs that stimulate the immune checkpoint system and are trialling them in other immune conditions. Our discovery provides important support for trials in type 1 diabetes. Professor Helen Colhoun Professor (AXA Chair) of Medical Informatics and Life Course Epidemiology, Institute of Genetics and Cancer Read the paper in Diabetes Helen Colhoun Research Group Image credit: Tanya Joy via Getty Images Tags 2025 Publication date 13 Aug, 2025
