REBEL – CV study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
REBEL – CV study: Does Residual β-cell function and exercise offer synergistic protection against hyperglycaemic induced circulating vasoprotective dysfunction and immune deficiency in type 1 diabetes?
IRAS ID
301646
Contact name
Guy Taylor
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle Joint Research Office. Newcastle University/The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospital Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
In type 1 diabetes (T1D), an individual’s own immune system attacks the cells that create insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar. Individuals with T1D have different types of autoimmune responses, with more severe responses quickly destroying all of the insulin producing cell. Up to 80% of people with T1D for >3 years do still release small amounts of insulin and C-peptide, a molecule involved in the creation of insulin, from the pancreas.
For people with T1D, exercise can be beneficial, potentially reducing the progression of diabetes-related complications. Creating insulin/C-peptide may also help protect against diabetes complications, although exactly how is currently unknown.
One possible way is through endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which circulate in the blood and repair blood vessels; with T1D associated with having lower numbers of these important cells. We have discovered that individuals who no longer produce any insulin/C-peptide have lower resting count and are not able to increase the number of EPCs after exercise, compared to higher counts and exercise-induced increases for those who still produce insulin/C-peptide.Exercise can also be beneficial for the immune system. Very limited research suggests that beneficial mobilisation of immune cells with exercise is blunted in people with T1D. However it is not known whether having some ability to create insulin/C-peptide influences this. While different immune cell profiles at diagnosis can predict the rate of destruction, it is unknown whether the profiles differ between individuals with established diabetes and varying levels of insulin/C-peptide.
This study will explore how having some ability to still make insulin/C-peptide in T1D influences how well EPCs work in normal and high glucose conditions and whether this works in combination with exercise, as well as whether the immune response at rest and post-exercise is different between those who create no insulin/C-peptide and those who do.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/YH/0078
Date of REC Opinion
5 May 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion