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PETBioNewsNewsStem cells help improve insulin production in diabetes patients

BioNews

Stem cells help improve insulin production in diabetes patients

Published 9 June 2009 posted in News and appears in BioNews 504

Author

Rose Palmer

Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false colour).
CC BY 4.0
Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false-coloured cryogenic scanning electron micrograph).

A pioneering stem cell transplant has enabled patients with Type One diabetes to go without insulin injections for up to four years. Researchers from Northwestern University in the US and the Regional Blood Centre in Brazil treated a total of 23 patients and found that the majority...

A pioneering stem cell transplant has enabled patients with Type One diabetes to go without insulin injections for up to four years.


Researchers from Northwestern University in the US and the Regional Blood Centre in Brazil treated a total of 23 patients and found that the majority achieved good glycemic control: 20 became insulin injection free for an average of 31 months. Eight had to return to insulin injections but at lower levels and three patients didn't benefit from the treatment. The results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).


Type1 diabetes usually develops in childhood, and happens when the immune system mistakenly attacks the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas. The treatment is designed to prevent this from happening. The researchers took stem cells from the bone marrow of each patient and then gave the patients chemotherapy, effectively destroying the immune cells that attack islet cells. They then returned the stem cells to the patients by intravenous injection.


To assess the effectiveness of the treatment the team's analysed the levels of C peptides, which is a by-product of insulin production, in the blood of the patients. All of those who benefited had increased concentrations of C peptides.


In 2007, Julio Voltarelli of the Regional Blood Centre announced early trials of this treatment. His team found that some of their patients were able to live without injections of insulin for months. At the time there was uncertainty whether the changes were as a result of the treatment or the associated medical care. This new work now brings the total number of patients to 23, and some have been followed up for nearly five years.


Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, said that the researchers need to look at the causes of the apparent improvement in insulin production. He said: 'It is crucial to find out whether this is associated with the timing of the treatment or possible side effects of it rather than the stem cell transplant itself.'


Dr Richard Burt of Northwestern warned that this is not yet a cure and the procedure may only work on those very recently diagnosed. He said: 'We don't believe stem cells form islet cells, but if the islet cells are still there, there might be regeneration if we stop the attack soon enough.'

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Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false colour).
CC BY 4.0
Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false-coloured cryogenic scanning electron micrograph).
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9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Adult cell reprogramming helps treat diabetes in mice

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Researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Boston, USA, have successfully transformed one type of adult cell in to another cell type in live mice, according to a study published in the journal Nature. The cells created were insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas - the cells...

Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false colour).
CC BY 4.0
Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false-coloured cryogenic scanning electron micrograph).
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Image by K Hardy via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human embryo at the blastocyst stage (about six days after fertilisation) 'hatching' out of the zona pellucida.
CC BY 4.0
Image by K Hardy via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human embryo at the blastocyst stage (about six days after fertilisation) 'hatching' out of the zona pellucida.
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Stem cell hope for type 1 diabetes

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The US Geron Corporation has reported pioneering steps towards a new treatment for type 1 diabetes, having successfully converted human embryonic stem (ES)cells into insulin-producing cells. The research, published in the journal Stem Cells, found that islet-like clusters of cells, similar to those normally found in...

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