Human Stem Cell Transplants Successfully Reversed Diabetes In Mice 92
An anonymous reader writes "Scientists successfully reversed diabetes in mice by transplanting mice human stem cells into mice in a discovery that may lead to way to finding a cure for a disease that affects 8.3 percent of the U.S. population. ... In an experiment designed to mimic human clinical conditions, researchers were able to wean diabetic mice off of insulin four months after the rodents were transplanted with human pancreatic stem cells (abstract). [They] were able to recreate the 'feedback loop' that enabled insulin levels to automatically rise or fall based on the rodents' blood glucose levels. Additionally, researchers found that the mice were able to maintain healthy blood sugar levels even after they were fed large quantities of sugar. After several months, researchers removed the transplanted cells from the mice and found that the cells had all the markings of normal insulin-producing pancreatic cells."
Hopefully the caveats can be worked out... (Score:5, Interesting)
The research was on Type I diabetes, aimed at restoring insulin production, not Type II and reversing insulin resistance.
Also: "The studies were performed in diabetic mice that lacked a properly functioning immune system that would otherwise have rejected the cells. We now need to identify a suitable way of protecting the cells from immune attack so that the transplant can ultimately be performed in the absence of any immunosuppression". That could prove to be a big one, given the relationship between the Type I and patient's immune system destroying their own pancreatic cells, for reasons somewhat murky. If the patient's own immune system is already killing their own cells, I don't envy the research team that has to keep a transplanted cell population alive without cratering the immune system so hard that something else kills the patient...
Re:Type 1 vs type 2 diabetes (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Cool, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
It's also worth noting that, while the stubborn spectre of 'free will' hangs around to cloud the issue, 'lifestyle' diseases have a nasty habit of cropping up under their preferred economic and social conditions almost as reliably, at a population level, as their biological cousins. In the case of obesity, the wealthy bits of the developed world led the charge; but it turns out that you can develop troublingly high levels on a surprisingly low GDP per capita. Diabetes research isn't exactly in the 'altruistic research on neglected-but-horrid tropical diseases of poor people' category; but it's not exactly in the 'hair loss and limp-dick-itis' camp either...
Re:Type 1 vs type 2 diabetes (Score:4, Interesting)
This is, sadly, true.
I have never been obese, but I did abuse my body with sugary treats which is likely what lead to me having type 2 diabetes. I tried meds and frankly they just made things worse (the closest I came to obese was directly because of diabetes meds). So I tried diet and exercise. And it works for me. First, my glucose level NEVER hits 500 anymore, and if I go run a few miles every day and don't eat a hell of a lot of carbs, it stays at very normal levels. As a side-effect I'm also in the best physical shape I've been in my entire life.
But that's not a cure, that's treatment. If I ate a kit kat right this minute, my glucose level would spike to ~180 and stay there for hours. I can't ever eat a big bowl of pasta, or make an awesome grilled cheese sandwich (well I can make it, but I can't eat it).
Doctors tell me (once they're stopped being shocked that my a1c level is well below 7) that yeah this treatment is working now, but statistically it gets a LOT harder to manage using diet and exercise as you age. And realistically, I won't be able to maintain this level of physical activity forever, so SOMEONE CURE THIS DAMN THING ALREADY. By now I have the discipline to get a lot of exercise and not eat a ton of junk food, but hell, it's 90 degrees today, I'd love to pick up a fruit smoothie on the way back from the park.