People with type 1 diabetes who got stem cell transplants were able to go as long as four years without needing insulin treatments, US researchers said on April 14. They said the process, which involves injecting people with stem cells made from their bone marrow cells, appears to have a lasting effect.
The study involved patients with Type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes, which occurs when the immune system goes haywire and starts attacking itself, destroying insulin-producing cells in the pancreas needed to control blood sugar. These patients typically need daily insulin therapy to control their diabetes. Dr Richard Burt of North-western University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and colleagues first reported on the short-term success of the procedure, known as autologous non-myeloablative hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, in 2007 but have since looked at how long it persisted.
To find out if the change was lasting the research team said they measured levels of C-peptides, which show how well the body is producing insulin. They found those levels increased "up to 24 months after transplantation and were maintained until at least 36 months," their report said. They said the procedure was able to induce "prolonged and significant increases of C-peptide levels" in the small group of patients who were taking little or no insulin.
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