by Playfuls Staff |
12th April 2007
A new study suggests that injections of stem cells harvested from a patient's own blood could one day be an efficient therapy for type 1 diabetes, replacing the mandatory insulin shots.
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The current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association includes a small Brazilian study that reports that injections of stem cells harvested from a patient's own blood may help control type 1 diabetes.
Conducted by scientists in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and in Chicago, the study involved 15 young patients newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. All participants underwent high-dose immunosuppression therapy followed by a procedure called autologous nonmyeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to preserve beta-cell function.
The patients were treated with injections of stem cells drawn from their own blood. Type one diabetics have to regularly inject themselves with the hormone insulin to control their blood sugar levels.
The researchers found that 14 of the 15 participants lost their insulin dependence after the treatment and no longer needed the insulin shots. One patient has been free of insulin dependency for an impressive 35 months.
Study leader Dr Julio Voltarelli from the University of Sao Paolo explained his enthusiasm with the positive results: “Very encouraging results were obtained in a small number of patients with early-onset disease. Ninety-three per cent of patients achieved different periods of insulin dependence and treatment-related toxicity was low, with no mortality.”
Type one diabetes is caused by insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas being destroyed by the patient's own immune system. Stem cells are immature cells that can develop to become a range of different adult cells.
This study could prove a valuable breakthrough. It’s findings could bring new hope to patients with type 1 diabetes because “for the first time in the history of diabetes, patients are now treatment-free for up to three years,” says Dr. Richard Burt, the senior author of the study and chief of the division of immunotherapy at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.
During follow-up that lasted up to 36 months, 93 percent of the patients achieved some length of insulin independence. Fourteen patients became insulin free: one for 35 months, four for at least 21 months, and seven for at least six months. Two more participants who had late responses to the stem cell therapy became insulin free for one and five months, respectively.
Researchers believe the stem cells developed into new white blood cells which did not attack the pancreatic beta cells. But they admit there are other possible interpretations - the stem cells could have developed into new beta cells in the pancreas. Or something might have happened to stop the existing beta cells being destroyed.
The study only included a small number of patients between 14 and 31, and did not monitor their progress for very long. Because of the nature of the study, it is not known if further stem cell injections would be required at a later date. Unlike most medical trials there was no comparison with patients left untreated or only given drugs to suppress their immune system.
There were problems as well. One person developed pneumonia, and two others developed problems with their endocrine system. It is unclear yet how the stem cell transplants functioned.
Some diabetes experts say more research is needed to confirm the benefits. Dr. Jay Skylar, associate director of the Diabetes Research Institute in Miami and author of an accompanying editorial to the study, cautions that the study “is pioneering and provocative, but it is too small a number and too short a duration to allow people yet to change. … It needs confirmation.”
Currently, there is no cure for type 1 diabetes. Only strict control of glucose levels can reduce the complications of this disease.
