Word: insulin
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...idea behind the transplant is simple. In type I diabetes, the patient's own immune system turns on the beta cells that produce insulin, the hormone that breaks down the glucose we eat in food. Eventually, the immune cells will virtually eliminate all of the body's beta cells, and glucose levels will start to climb. Researchers believe that the trigger for this attack lies somewhere within the immune cells, so one possible treatment for the disease may be to wipe out the entire existing immune system and replace it with a fresh one, derived from stem cells without this...
...Afterward, each patient received his own stem cells back by injection. The scientists traced blood levels of a protein, C-peptide, that beta cells produce, in order to confirm that whatever remaining beta cells the patient had were now able to grow again and repopulate the pancreas - and produce insulin. Sure enough, levels of C-peptide rose in 20 of the 23 patients; 12 were able to stay off insulin therapy for three years, and eight needed only intermittent help from insulin treatments during the five-year study period. On average, the patients remained free of insulin injections...
That's a milestone in diabetes treatment. Type I diabetes patients are locked in a constant struggle to maintain their body's insulin levels. Since their beta cells no longer produce the hormone on their own, patients must supply it themselves with multiple injections throughout the day and night, or using an insulin pump that dispenses insulin automatically through a permanent tube under the skin. Voltarelli's stem cell strategy provides a life-changing alternative that would take the burden off the patient and put it back where it belongs, on the beta cells...
...their disease - such as high blood sugar levels - until they have depleted their beta cell population considerably. Dr. David Nathan, director of the diabetes center at Massachusetts General Hospital, notes that at this point, there may not be enough beta cells remaining to seed a new population of insulin-growing cells, even with an infusion of stem cells to give them a more hospitable environment. "This study shows that it can work, but how long it will work is a question," he says. Previous studies have shown that after an immune cell transplant, beta cells vigorously produce insulin for about...
Voltarelli's team, however, has managed to show that the stem cells can give long-lasting beta cells a chance to grow - at least ones that can produce insulin for about three years. Other researchers are pursuing intriguing new stem cell options, including stem cells that can be grown from a patient's own skin, which would eliminate the need for extracting immune stem cells from bone marrow. "Every door that we open leads to another door," says Burt. "All research is built by sitting on the shoulders of other studies. This trial is something that will contribute...