Maybe one day we’ll be able to replace insulin-producing cells on demand. Early clinical trial data provided by Chinese scientists suggests that human stem cells can be converted into a stable supply of pancreatic cells responsible for producing insulin. If truly successful, such a treatment would essentially cure type 1 diabetes.
Although type 1 diabetes is much less common than type 2 diabetes, it still affects approximately 2 million Americans. Once a death sentence, autoimmune diseases can now be controlled through regular administration of artificial insulin. But even today, people with type 1 have a shorter life expectancy than the general population. Scientists have long been trying to develop a permanent way to treat type 1, and this latest study could be a preview of that approach.
A large group of researchers collaborated on a small but pivotal Phase I trial that included three type 1 patients. Cells taken from the patient are first transformed into pluripotent stem cells, so-called “building blocks” that have the potential to mature into many other different types of cells. These cells are chemically induced to mature into insulin-producing islets—the same cells destroyed by the wayward immune systems of people with Type 1 diabetes. These replacement islets are then injected into the patient’s abdomen. The abdomen was specifically chosen so that researchers could better observe the patient’s progress and make it easier to remove the islets if problems arise.
Monday, in diary cellscientists published results from a one-year study of their first patient, a 25-year-old woman (the trial was staggered, meaning other patients were treated later).
According to the paper, the woman began producing enough insulin 75 days into the experiment that she no longer needed injections. By the fourth month, her long-term blood glucose values were similar to those of a non-diabetic patient. One year later, she is still producing insulin, has good blood sugar control, and has no signs of any transplant-related issues.
“This patient’s promising results suggest further clinical study evaluation [chemically induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived]- Patients with type 1 diabetes require islet transplantation,” the researchers wrote.
These results, although encouraging, are still preliminary. Phase 1 trials are primarily designed to test the safety of an experimental treatment, rather than definitively showing whether it works as well as hoped. The history of stem cell research in particular is so full of promising beginnings followed by later failures and fraudulent scams that it may be worth being more cautious about any early claims of success. The scientists also noted that their patients were already taking immunosuppressive drugs as a result of earlier liver transplants. So it’s unclear whether her immune system will one day turn on those islets, or whether stem cell treatment could ensure continued insulin production in other people with a different medical history.
Still, if these findings are replicated in the team’s two other patients and in larger clinical trials, this treatment may well represent a functional cure for the difficult and life-shortening disease. Here’s wishing you all the best.
