[acb-diabetics] recombined cells may show cure for type 1 diabetes

[Patricia LaFrance-Wolf]

A successful experiment on mice with type 1
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/community/type-1-issues/> diabetes
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/> , which involved "reprogramming" their
immune systems to stop attacks on pancreatic beta cells, may point the way
to an eventual cure for the disease in humans.

The experiment, led by the City of Hope medical research center in Duarte,
California, first used antibodies to kill the two kinds of cells that are
involved in autoimmune attacks against insulin
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/medications/insulin/> -producing beta
cells in the pancreas. In type 1
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/community/type-1-issues/>  diabetes,
the cells that defend the body against bacteria, viruses, and outside
intruders erroneously attack the beta cells, eventually destroying them and
the body's ability to produce insulin.

Once the defender cells were killed, the researchers transplanted bone
marrow into the mice to restore the cells. The new immune cells from the
marrow no longer carried the factor that made the previous cells attack the
pancreas's insulin-making beta cells. In short, the new cells left the
mice's pancreases alone.

At the same time, the researchers injected the diabetic
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/>  mice with pancreas growth factor, which
led to the creation of new insulin-producing beta cells. The cessation of
autoimmune attacks, combined with a restored ability to produce insulin, led
to a virtual cure of the mice's disease.

Two aspects of the study give rise to high hopes for its treatment approach.
First, it involved mice that had late-stage type 1 diabetes. Second, it
combined cell replacement and pancreatic growth factor, two therapies that
are not new but had not been combined before.

As promising as the City of Hope approach is, it will be several years
before it can be used experimentally on humans. The next step will be to try
the treatment on primates, which are physiologically closer to humans than
mice are. 

The study, funded by the Iacocca Family Foundation and private donations,
was published in Science Translational Medicine.

  _____  

Categories:Diabetes
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/community/diabetes/> ,
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/community/diabetes-health/> 

 

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