Diabetes and Stem Cell Therapy

Diabetes Story

Diabetes is chronic disease, have high risk of complications, which is difficult to fully recovery. So, treatment to use of stem cells is in great hopes.

diabetes-type-1-and-2

Type 1 Diabetes vs Type 2 Diabetes(Type 2 diabetes is more common than type 1 diabetes.)
Type 1 Diabetes affects the body such that it can no longer produce insulin Type 1 diabetes affects the body such that it can no longer produce insulin. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that causes the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas to be destroyed, preventing the body from being able to produce enough insulin to adequately regulate blood glucose levels.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder that results in hyperglycemia (high blood glucose levels) due to the body.
Being ineffective at using the insulin it has produced; also known as insulin resistance and/or Being unable to produce enough insulin. Type 2 diabetes was formerly known as non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset diabetes due to its occurrence mainly in people over 40.

 

Stem Cell Therapy & Diabetes

The way in which the immune system causes the destruction of precious beta islet cells within the pancreas of type 1 diabetics is generally understood to be the key. The ultimate goal is a cure for diabetes, which could potentially be available for both types of diabetes through stem cell research.
A. Stem Cell are immature, unprogrammed cells that have the ability to grow into different kinds of tissue and can be sourced from people of all ages.
B. Type 1 diabetes develops after insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed.
C. One of the most promising areas of diabetes research involves beta-cell replacement to restore insulin production.
D. A major challenge in cell transplantation is a death of donor pancreases, which are necessary for harvesting islet cells.
Stem cells open up a wide spectrum of diabetes research possibilities. In one example of diabetes stem cell research, researchers took cells from human intestine cells and disabled a gene which enabled the cells to produce insulin.
Within recent years, stem cell research has become a very important part of the scientific understanding of type 1 diabetes. Research has demonstrated that stem cells can be grown in the lab. In 2004, the University of Pittsburgh grew insulin producing beta cells by introducing two genes ‘cdk’ and ‘cyclin d’ via a virus.
The researchers were able to deactivate the virus and also prevent stem cells from growing further. The research could lead to a better availability of beta cells for future research purposes.
Progenitor cells, related to stem cells, are another exciting avenue of research. Like stem cells, progenitor cells are able to take on the form of a number of different types of mature human cells, however, unlike stem cells, progenitor cells cannot divide indefinitely. Progenitor stem cells have been used to grow insulin producing cells, under lab conditions, from intestinal cells and undeveloped pancreatic cells.

 

Stem cells use in islet cell transplants

To cure type 1 diabetes, stem cell replacement needs to be more than simply a case of swapping insulin-producing cells from a healthy pancreas with those destroyed by diabetes in a diabetic patient.
Numerous complications preclude this as a simple treatment. Islet cell transplants are one form of procedure that has proven effective.
Type 1 diabetes may prove to be especially difficult to cure, because the cells are destroyed when the body’s own immune system attacks and destroys them.

diabetes_pancreas

Figure 7.1. Insulin Production in the Human Pancreas. The pancreas is located in the abdomen, adjacent to the duodenum (the first portion of the small intestine). A cross-section of the pancreas shows the islet of Langerhans which is the functional unit of the endocrine pancreas. Encircled is the beta cell that synthesizes and secretes insulin. Beta cells are located adjacent to blood vessels and can easily respond to changes in blood glucose concentration by adjusting insulin production. Insulin facilitates uptake of glucose, the main fuel source, into cells of tissues such as muscle.(© 2001 Terese Winslow, Lydia Kibiuk)

 

Development of Cell-Based Therapies for Diabetes

In developing a potential therapy for patients with diabetes, researchers hope to develop a system that meets several criteria. Ideally, stem cells should be able to multiply in culture and reproduce themselves exactly. That is, the cells should be self-renewing. Stem cells should also be able to differentiate in vivo to produce the desired kind of cell.
Researchers have been studying through the use of fetal tissue, adult tissue, embryonic stem cells for diabetes therapy. The major issue develops the technology to be able to grow large numbers of these cells that will reproducibly produce normal amounts of insulin.
Many research studies report the flash of hope. In clinical trial cases to use the adsc(adipose derived stem cell), some diabetes patients improve gradually.

 

Future Directions

Ultimately, type 1 diabetes may prove to be especially difficult to cure, because the cells are destroyed when the body’s own immune system attacks and destroys them. This autoimmunity must be overcome if researchers hope to use transplanted cells to replace the damaged ones. Before any cell-based therapy to treat diabetes makes it to the clinic, many safety issues must be addressed (Assessing Human Stem Cell Safety).
Sources and references:
  • www.diabetes.co.uk/Diabetes-And-Stem-Cell-Research.html
  • http://stemcells.nih.gov/
  • International Diabetes Federation

Related Articles

Leave a reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.