The illusion of “caution” ahead of research to reverse type 1 diabetes

Nieves Sebastian Mongares
Magazine cell recently published that a 25-year-old patient with type 1 diabetes there was began producing their own insulin less than three months after receiving an autologous reprogrammed stem cell transplant. Specifically, these results come from a study by an independent group in Shanghai, China. They reported that in April they were able to transplant insulin-producing islets into the liver of a 59-year-old man with type 1 diabetes. Now this new study is “interesting” to the medical community, although they are urging people to take note of the results. with caution if there is one result.

Changing the procedure

Dr. Maria Duran MartinezMember of the Diabetes Division of the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (VISIBLE) explains that in the latter case “That Researchers have managed to “manufacture” pancreatic islets from a patient’s own stem cells.implant them in the abdominal muscles, which inoculate and produce insulin in sufficient quantities to prevent glucose levels from rising both fasting and during meals.“

According to Dr. Cristobal Romeroendocrinologist from Seville, member of the Spanish Diabetic Society (THIRST), and endocrinologist at the Virgen de la Macarena Hospital (Seville), “great difference Here is what, so far, the latest results on islet transplantation of insulin-producing pancreatic cells have been presented in the liver; In this case, the advantage is that the transplantation will be performed in the abdominal wall, in front of the rectus femoris muscle.which would be very easy tracking using an MRI to see how the graft is doing” “Having said that -points to Dr. Romero- “While good news is opening doors, more research and investment is needed in this area.”

This research opens up new opportunities for the development of new treatments that will lead to a reversal or potential cure for type 1 diabetes.

Here Dr. Morales details that ““Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells, the beta cells, and that is why exogenous insulin must be used in these patients.” “With this type of transplantation, the patient who made up of your own mesenchymal adipose tissue“In the laboratory, pluripotent cells are differentiated and implanted in the anterior rectum, which activates the ‘cure’ of type 1 diabetes.” In this regard, the doctor recalls that in order to talk about cure in this case, it is necessary results should last for one year at least.

For my part, Dr. Maria Jose Piconvice president THIRST and a specialist in the endocrinology service of the Virgen de la Victoria University Hospital in Malaga, agrees with this caution, noting that “IThe information is invaluable, but this is still the case of one patient and in an ongoing study.” “In research, the report is not usually written in this way, informing when things are going well; “But the results are impressive, and it’s good that the community knows about them,” he points.

Patient characteristics

Dr. Picon emphasizes that in the case published in Cell, “If we go deeper, the patient took immunosuppressants after liver transplantationtherefore, some important implications of a patient’s stem cell transplant may differ.” “However, given these premises, the case is interesting,” he says. Dr. Duran makes a similar point, adding that treatment with immunosuppressants ““This may have had a positive impact on the success of the bribery.”

“ pluripotent stem cells These are cells that have not yet differentiated into any specific cell type. Pancreatic islets are structures composed of various cells, not only insulin-producing beta cells, but also glucagon-producing alpha cells, somastotatin-producing delta cells, and other types.” Dr. Duran clarifies. “This success that has achieved balanced differentiation “The percentage of different cells that make up the islets and that enough insulin is secreted to prevent glucose levels from rising, but not too much to cause hypoglycemia.” assessed by an endocrinologist.

Another factor that appears to have contributed to the success, according to Dr. Duran, is “that stem cells were extracted from a patient, and The fact that they come from the patient himself and not from a donor promotes future immune tolerance.“

Past and future

Dr. Duran now notes that “The authors note that they have repeated in two other patients with successful resultseven though they are not yet one year post-transplant.” In addition, he notes that there are already pharmaceutical companies with promising areas of research in this regard.

Moreover, Dr. Morales goes back to 1921, when Frederick Banting, along with his student Charles Herbert Best, discovered insulin. For this reason, more than 100 years later, the specialist emphasizes that “As research continues, better insulins, better delivery devices, better sensors, and continuous glucose meters are becoming available to better control the disease.” Therefore, while solutions are emerging that bring cure closer, these advances will prevent complications and allow patients to achieve a situation as close to normal as possible.