Combined Immunosuppressive Therapy Helps with Type B Insulin Resistance

Researchers believe that the use of a combined immunosuppressive regimen including rituximab, cyclophosphamide, and steroid pulses is both safe and effective when treating patients with type B insulin resistance. This was found true when the immunosuppressant was followed by azathioprine maintenance therapy.

The study involved 22 patients with type B insulin resistance. Approximately 84% of those who received the combined immunosuppressive therapy achieved remission within five months. This was compared with 41.4% of patients treated with single-agent immunosuppression or plasmapheresis at 30 months. Further, the study found no deaths within the combination therapy group compared to 44.8% of those within the single-agent control group.

These findings were published in Diabetes Care on August 10, 2018.