Hyperglycemia (High glucose levels) is the characteristic presentation of diabetes, and according to research, over ten thousand people daily are diagnosed with this ailment. Insulin production is your body’s way of drawing out the energy you need for your day-to-day activities, including the energy needed for metabolic activities to take place within your cells, from carbohydrates. Therefore, it is a vital hormone to your survival. This hormone is secreted by your pancreas – the leaf-like organ situated beneath your liver, close to your gall bladder. Diabetes (type I) occurs when your immune system begins to see your beta cells (cells of the pancreas responsible for insulin secretion) as foreign invaders, and attacks them, thereby leading to a reduction in their production, consequently, raising the glucose levels in your blood. The exact cause of the immune cells’ reaction towards the beta cells is unknown.
Insulin
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Since its discovery, scientists have been working to find a cure for this ailment, however, no procedure has proved 100% effective in restoring the body’s ability to produce the hormone, which is why patients with this illness are only sustained via medications and therapies to help boost insulin production in their bodies. Nonetheless, scientists have not stopped researching better ways to improve on already-existing treatment strategies.
The Study
During the research, a few new treatment procedures were uncovered. Among these was the therapy used to treat one 64-year-old patient, Brian Shelton. The therapy he received revived his body’s ability to produce insulin without the use of drugs; however, this therapy was not 100% perfect as it required that he was given drugs that suppressed his immune system beforehand. This was done to make his immune cells inactive while the transplant of the pancreatic stem cells was being done, to prevent his body from rejecting the transplanted stem cells. To fully suppress his immune cells, he was given a huge dose of anti-rejection drugs, which gave terrible side effects. This transplant of pancreatic stem cells seems to be the most effective procedure, however, there are not enough resources to transplant to the 10,000+ people that already have this ailment. Scientists are currently working to improve on this therapy to make it safer for the body.
Pharmaceutical companies are also on the move to produce better medications and therapies for effective treatment. Vertex and ViaCyte are among such companies working to achieve this feat. With Vertex looking into the improvement of stem cell transplant in such a way that the need to suppress the immune system before the transplant is lessened or eliminated; and, ViaCyte also looking at ways to improve the transplant procedure by using the approach of hiding the stem cells within capsules before transplant to hide their identity from the immune cells, there seems to be a way ahead around type I diabetes after all.
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However, this approach employed by ViaCyte did not seem to be effective as immune cells were still able to recognize the stem cells, making the procedure less effective. On realizing this, the researchers at ViaCyte decided to try something different. They meddled with the gene configuration of the stem cells so they can be transplanted in such a way that their insulin production is not hindered, but their identity is masked from the immune cells. The scientists are currently working to improve this procedure, to be sure it poses no threat to life.
Clinical significance
With this study, it may be possible to find a cure to type I diabetes and save tens of thousands of people who are already suffering from it.
Conclusion
Type I diabetes may have a cure after all. With this discovery and further findings ongoing, scientists are close to coming up with a definitive cure for this condition.
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References
Reversing type 1 diabetes with stem cell–derived islets: a step closer to the dream?
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