Word: voltarelli
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...research team, led by Dr. Julio Voltarelli of the University of Sao Paulo, is the first to successfully treat type 1 diabetes patients with their own stem cells. The group first reported its initial achievement in 2007, with 15 type 1 diabetes patients who received their own stem cells and no longer needed insulin to control their blood sugar levels. In the new study, a follow-up of their previous work, Voltarelli and his colleagues detailed the same success with an additional eight patients, and also confirmed that in the majority of them, the stem cell transplant...
That's the strategy that Voltarelli's team tested. First, they carefully extracted a population of immune stem cells from the bone marrow of each diabetes patient. Then each person was treated with radiation, similar to the regimen that cancer patients receive, in order to destroy the immune system. 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...
...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...
...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...
| 1 |