Treg vaccination for autoimmune type 1 diabetes

Now I am really excited! This is huge!
Regulatory T cells that modulate autoimmunity can now be grown in vitro and used to successfully treat an autoimmune disease! I see no reason why this should not work on a host of autoimmune diseases.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12016532/End-of-daily-injections-for-diabetes-as-scientists-restore-insulin-production.html
End of daily injections for diabetes as scientists restore insulin production

"Now researchers at the University of California and Yale have shown that the ‘T-regs’ can be removed from the body, increased by 1,500x in the laboratory and infused back into the bloodstream to restore normal function."

"The team say that T-Reg treatments also hold promise as treatments for other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, and even as therapies for cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases and obesity."

Published in Science Translational Medicine:

stm.sciencemag.org/content/7/315/315ra189
Type 1 diabetes immunotherapy using polyclonal regulatory T cells
Regulating type 1 diabetes

In patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D), immune cells attack the insulin-producing β cells of the pancreas. The resulting prolonged increase in blood sugar levels can lead to serious complications including heart disease and kidney failure. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been shown to be defective in autoimmune diseases. Now, Bluestone et al. report a phase 1 trial of adoptive Treg immunotherapy to repair or replace Tregs in type 1 diabetics. The ex vivo–expanded polyclonal Tregs were long-lived after transfer and retained a broad Treg phenotype long-term. Moreover, the therapy was safe, supporting efficacy testing in further trials.

Thanks for that Rob. My son will be very interested. Anne

Thanks, Rob, for keeping us up to date. This is exciting. ITP doesn't get much attention, since the patient population isn't large enough to give the research a profitable end, but I've thought all along that, once they get it done for diabetes Type I, it may spin off products helpful for other autoimmune disorders. This is the best thing I've heard in a while for Type I. (There was something going on with the old tuberculosis vaccine, which had my hopes up for ITP, but it must not have panned out. Haven't heard from that in a while.)
Norma

I wonder, since the injected Treg cells are clones of the patient's own cells, whether FDA approval is required.

I also wonder, once this is approved for T1DM, whether this can be used off-label for other autoimmune conditions, without requiring further FDA approval, or if different Treg cells are involved.

Does anyone know how long fast track approval takes?