Stem cell treatment for diabetic mice

Researchers have succeeded in reversing the symptoms of diabetes in mice by carrying out pancreas cell transplants. The team, from the University of Florida, published their results in this month's issue of Nature Medicine. The mice had the equivalent of Type 1 - or childhood-diabetes - which affects 100,000 children in the UK.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body's immune system 'turns against' the pancreatic islet cells, destroying the ability of the pancreas to make insulin - the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. Previous attempts to use islet cell transplants to treat diabetes have failed because scientists have not been able to obtain enough of these specialised cells. But the Florida team overcame the problem by isolating a type of stem cell, known as a pluripotent pancreatic ductal epithelial cell, which they then used to grow large numbers of islet cells. When transplanted into the diabetic mice, the new cells produced enough insulin to allow the mice to survive without extra injections of the hormone.

Professor Ammon Peck, who led the team, said the results were 'very exciting' but added: 'Obviously there are still a number of hurdles we have to overcome and a lot of theoretical questions we have to answer before we would begin implanting the cells in humans'. A spokeswoman for the British Diabetic Association was enthusiastic about the findings, but also warned it would take many years before it would benefit people with the condition.