ReCET (diabetes therapy)

2024: Technology Development

In mid-October 2024, researchers from the University of Amsterdam announced the development of a new method for treating type 2 diabetes, which can significantly reduce or even eliminate the need for insulin. The therapy was called ReCET.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease in which the body cannot effectively use insulin produced in sufficient quantities by pancreatic cells. Around the world, about 422 million people suffer from this disease, and obesity is a significant risk factor. Usually, insulin therapy is used to control blood sugar levels in patients, but it can lead to side effects, including further weight gain. There is therefore a need for alternative treatment strategies.

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Freepik

The new approach combines the ReCET (recellularization via electroporation therapy) procedure with semaglutide. Electroporation - the creation of pores in a bilayer lipid membrane under the influence of an electric field. The method is used in medicine and biotechnology to introduce macromolecules into mammalian, bacterial or plant cells. The ReCET procedure aims to increase the body's sensitivity to its own insulin to control glucose levels. In turn, semaglutide is a drug, an agonist of the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (aGLP-1). The drug is used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity.

It is noted that the new therapy allowed 86% of the patients participating in the study to completely refuse to take insulin. The method improves a patient's sensitivity to their own insulin by eliminating the underlying cause of the disease, unlike traditional drug approaches that control the disease at best.^[1]

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