Study says transplant of insulin-producing pancreas cells treatment for Type 1 diabetes

The role of insulin production in treating Type 1 diabetes is the focus of recent studies on how to find a lasting solution to patients of the chronic ailment outside daily injections.

One solution being offered is the transplant of insulin-producing pancreatic cells to reduce the risks of severe drops in blood sugar. A team, led by Dr Bernhard Hering of the University of Minnesota, plans to seek a US Food and Drug Administration licence for cell-based diabetes therapy which their study found to be real and offers tremendous potentials for the right patients, reports CBS.

The licence would initially use the therapy in a small number of Type 1 diabetics at risk for drops in blood sugar which could lead to seizures and cause death. While regular insulin shots help these type of patients manage their ailment, they could still experience complications because of swings in blood sugar levels.

Instead of pancreas transplant which is an uncommon and grueling procedure, scientists prefer a less invasive alternative by infusing the patients with islet cells which are the insulin factories inside the pancreas. The National Institutes of Health funded a study that gave 48 diabetics in eight medical centres at least one islet cell transplant.

After one year, 88 percent of the patients – who were still 52 percent insulin-dependent - were freed from severe hypoglycemia events, while after one more year, 71 percent were still faring well, according to the study published in Diabetes Care journal.

The researchers plan to carry out long follow-ups to determine the long-term outcomes of islet transplants for Type 1 diabetics, reports Mainenewsonline. The procedure involves isolating islet cells and inserting it into the liver of the patient. With this method, the diabetic does not need to take anti-rejection medication since the cells are from the patient’s body.

The auto-islet transplant procedure and pancreatectomy are performed at the Schulze Diabetes Institute of the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, one of only two hospitals in the US that does the two surgeries.