Recent patents on the treatment of Type 1 diabetes

Abstract: The incidence of endocrine autoimmunity is increasing worldwide. Complex molecular and cellularmechanisms underline the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases with the contribution of putative environmental factorsand the requisite allele(s) responsible for antigen presentation by antigen-presenting cells for T cell recognition. Althoughgenetic factors have been well dissected, the environmental agents, including putative viruses, which may be causative ofdisease, are still under investigation. The long preclinical period of autoimmune disorders is characterised by an enhancedchallenge over time of autoreactive T cells by an increased number of autoantigenic peptides and autoantibodiesproduction. It is of considerable importance to establish predictive, preventive strategies of the disease onset. It is alsorelevant to project novel immunotherapeutic interventions aiming to halt the disease progression before and after theclinical manifestations become evident. In this article, we review the most recent and important patents related toautoimmune endocrine disorders with special reference to insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, Addison’s disease, Graves’disease and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Engineered bioactive compounds aim to interfere with T cell activation anddifferentiation, to modulate other inflammatory effectors cells and cytokine production. We discuss the importance of thenovel therapeutic targets in treating the immunopathological process in these categories of disorders.