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Cell Therapy 'To Reverse Diabetes

Posted: Wednesday, July 24, 2002

Scientists have taken the first steps towards reversing diabetes using stem cells grown in a laboratory.  

A naturally occurring intestinal hormone may one day lend a hand to diabetics by providing them with insulin-producing cells, new study findings suggest.

Researchers in the US have found a naturally-occurring hormone which can transform adult stem cells into cells which can produce insulin.

The converted cells could be transplanted into a diabetic patient to help regulate blood sugar levels.  The hormone, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), is released in response to food intake, helping to regulate blood levels of sugar, or glucose, says lead investigator Dr. Joel F. Habener of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Scientists are now working with a cellular therapy company to test whether use of stem cells could cure the disease.  Stem cells are "blank" cells which can be coaxed into becoming different types of tissue.

In the current study, the researchers found that when they took human islet stem cells and grew them in the lab, they could coax them to become insulin-producing cells by exposing them to GLP-1, Habener explained.

Stem cells are immature cells with the capability of maturing, or differentiating, into several different types of body cells. In earlier research, Habener and his colleagues demonstrated that islet stem cells can be found in the islets and ducts of the pancreas.

Transplanting functioning insulin-producing cells made from a diabetic person's own stem cells would eliminate the risk of rejection by the body, while further exposure to GLP-1 could help maintain these transplanted cells and even induce the production of additional ones, Habener explained in an interview with Reuters Health.

Researchers found that the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 can be used to turn stem cells into pancreatic beta cells - which in turn secrete insulin.

Stem cells are immature cells with the capability of maturing, or differentiating, into several different types of body cells. In earlier research, Habener and his colleagues demonstrated that islet stem cells can be found in the islets and ducts of the pancreas.

Transplanting functioning insulin-producing cells made from a diabetic person's own stem cells would eliminate the risk of rejection by the body, while further exposure to GLP-1 could help maintain these transplanted cells and even induce the production of additional ones, Habener explained.

Beta cell transplants have been tried in the past but the cells are in short supply and may be rejected.

Source: Endocrinology 2002;143.

 

 

 

 

 

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