Around 422 million people in the world suffer from type 2 diabetes, and its incidence is increasing associated with obesity, which is one of its main risk factors. Although insulin therapy is commonly used to control blood sugar levels in diabetic patients, it can cause side effects such as weight gain, further complicating management of the disease. Therefore, scientists are looking for treatment alternatives.
Now, pioneering research presented at the United European Gastroenterology annual meeting (UEG Week 2024) has revealed a new treatment strategy for type 2 diabetes that could significantly reduce, or even eliminate, the need for insulin therapy. . This innovative approach combines a novel procedure called ReCET (Re-Cellularization through Electroporation Therapy) with semaglutide – the active ingredient in Ozempic – and has resulted in 86% of patients no longer needing insulin.
This intestinal procedure, which was developed by researchers at the Mayo Clinic, focuses on the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine, which is responsible for greater digestion of food from the stomach and the absorption of nutrients by the body. As Dr. Andrew Storm, director of endoscopy at the Mayo Clinic, who was not involved in the new study, explains, “duodenal function fails in type 2 diabetes and ReCET seeks to repair the dysfunction.”
Improve the sensitivity of diabetic patients to their own insulin
In the initial study, 14 people between 28 and 75 years old, with a body mass index ranging between 24 and 40 kg/m², participated. Each participant underwent the ReCET procedure under deep sedation, with the aim of improving the body’s sensitivity to its own insulin. Subsequently, they followed an isocaloric liquid diet for two weeks, and semaglutide was gradually administered until reaching a dose of 1 mg/week.
Notably, at the six- and 12-month check-ups, 86% of participants (12 of 14) no longer required insulin, and these successful results were maintained at the 24-month follow-up. In these cases, patients managed to maintain glycemic control with HbA1c levels below 7.5%.
The maximum dose of semaglutide was well tolerated by 93% of participants, although one of them was unable to increase it due to nausea. All patients successfully completed the ReCET procedure, with no serious adverse effects reported.
Dr. Celine Busch, a gastroenterology researcher at Amsterdam University Medical Center and lead author of the study, commented during her presentation: “These results are very encouraging, as they suggest that ReCET is a safe and viable procedure that, when combined with semaglutide, can effectively eliminate the need for insulin therapy.”
“This treatment modifies the disease by improving the patient’s sensitivity to their own (endogenous) insulin, attacking the root cause of diabetes”
“Unlike pharmacological treatments, which require daily adherence, ReCET does not require constant compliance, which addresses one of the critical problems in the management of type 2 diabetes. Additionally, this treatment modifies the disease by improving patient sensitivity to its own (endogenous) insulin, attacking the root cause of the disease, unlike the pharmacological therapies currently available that, at best, only control the disease,” he added.
Looking ahead, researchers plan to conduct larger-scale randomized controlled clinical trials to validate these findings. “We are currently conducting the EMINENT-2 trial with the same inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the administration of semaglutide, but with a sham or ReCET procedure. “This study will also include mechanistic evaluations to investigate the underlying mechanism of ReCET,” concluded Dr. Busch.
