Human stem cell breakthrough brings hope for diabetes cure

[xMenace]

Human stem cell breakthrough brings hope for diabetes cure - Science - Specials (http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/human-stem-cell-breakthrough-brings-hope-for-diabetes-cure/2007/05/26/1179601733599.html)

Human stem cell breakthrough brings hope for diabetes cure
Daniel Dasey
May 27, 2007

HUMAN embryonic stem cells can be transformed into pancreatic cells that produce insulin, offering the potential to cure diabetes, researchers say.

The finding, published in the journal Stem Cells, has been hailed as a significant step forward in the quest to improve the lives of millions of the world's insulin-dependent diabetics, especially children.

Discovering how to replace the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, or islets, which are destroyed by the body's own immune system, has long been a focus for scientists studying the disease.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Australia chief executive Mike Wilson said it was the first time artificially created islets had shown the ability to respond to the amount of glucose they were exposed to, just as in the bodies of healthy people.

People with diabetes cannot produce insulin in response to glucose, which leads to heightened blood sugar levels and complications such as excessive thirst, kidney damage, cardiovascular disease and fatigue.

Mr Wilson said while the research at US biopharmaceutical company Geron Corporation and the University of Alberta, Canada, was still only in the laboratory stage, it held great promise for a future cure. "This step has never been reached before," he said.

Islet cells donated from the pancreases of cadavers have been able to reduce patients' dependence on insulin injections, but there is an extreme shortage of donors, forcing scientists to look at other sources.

Stem cells are "blank" cells that have the ability to grow into any other type of cell, such as the insulin-producing islets.

These islets could then be transplanted into someone with Type 1 diabetes and potentially cure the disease.

Type 1, also known as juvenile diabetes, is one of the most common serious childhood diseases and affects about one in every 700 Australian children.

Current treatment includes constant monitoring of blood sugar levels and diet and lifestyle changes, as well as daily insulin injections.

Rose Bay parents Greg and Kristen Mason are hopeful that a cure for Type 1 diabetes will be found soon.

Their five-year-old daughter Taylor was diagnosed with the disease aged 10 months, and she needs five to six insulin injections every day. She has a strictly controlled diet and activity schedule and her blood sugar is monitored up to 10 times daily.

"Every day we are one step closer to finding a cure so that Taylor can live a normal life," Mr Mason said.

Source: The Sun-Herald

[JediSurfer]

Been hearing about this since the 80's before they cracked the genome. The sooner the better. There is a scientist here in the UK located in Newcastle researching at the moment. The result should be with us in another 4 years or so. Fingers crossed.

[JediSkipdogg]

Geee...no mention of the US at all. Oh wait, I forgot, it's going to be some other country that makes the stem cell breakthrough cure.

[BriOnH]

This would not be a cure. A cure would involve stopping the auto-immune attack on the beta cells. Also, since these cells are embryonic stem cells, the cells would not be recognize as 'self'. So not only would the immune system attack it because it thinks beta cells are foriegn, it would also attack becaue they are truely foriegn. Talking about your double edged swords.

[CaptainMike]

This one is my favorite, makes Type I diabetes sound like a walk in the park:

"People with diabetes cannot produce insulin in response to glucose, which leads to heightened blood sugar levels and complications such as excessive thirst, kidney damage, cardiovascular disease and fatigue."
[/QUOTE]

Thirst and fatigue!!! I don't see what you people are always whining about!!!

That hardly sounds like a serious disease, or one that needs any research funding..
Thirsty? Drink something! and stop eating all that sugar and you'll be fine, bunch of crybabies!

What about complications like coma, heart attacks, or death?.. I'd call those pretty serious complications..

When will there be an article in the popular press that does not cause a rise in my blood pressure?!!

[spirosway]

These are good news but are the same with others news in last year!!!:D

[carlson]

hi my name is bob with type 2 anyone with info on the above subject please respond:)

[carlson]

hi my name is bob with type 2 anyone with info on the above subject please respond:)
i've heard of treatment in colone,and possibly thailand.any info?

[Mich]

Wonderful advance for science. Several groups are working on this and doing quite well.

Brian is right, unfortunately. Anyone who had a successful transplant would still have the very same evil killer T cells lurking in their body that ate their Beta cells in the first place. They would have to take immune suppressant drugs to keep their new Beta cells healthy. Sometimes the side effects of these are nearly as bad as being diabetic.

But, oh I LOVE IT that they are working so hard on various fixes.

Gotta go now, Captain Mike, I'm thirsty and tired. Waa waa. I had a good laugh over your comments!:T

Mich

[grace girl]

I never realized that excessive thirst was such a serious complication. ;)
Seriously, though, at this point, when I actually SEE someone who's D is cured, or reversed or whatever...then I'll get excited.

[Mich]

We actually have one of us who has had a transplant since 2006 and if I'm not mistaken, is doing pretty well with it. Maybe she will chime in on this discussion with her input.

Mich

[gambi]

This would not be a cure. A cure would involve stopping the auto-immune attack on the beta cells. Also, since these cells are embryonic stem cells, the cells would not be recognize as 'self'. So not only would the immune system attack it because it thinks beta cells are foriegn, it would also attack becaue they are truely foriegn. Talking about your double edged swords.


This might be a dumb question but if I test negative for GAD antibodies doesn't that mean that my immune system is NOT killing the cells? I have a low C-pep 0.4 so I am classified as a type 1. But how would this work with someone like me? It sounds like a just have a dysfunctional pancreas.

[BlueSky]

... since these cells are embryonic stem cells, the cells would not be recognize as 'self'. So not only would the immune system attack it because it thinks beta cells are foriegn, it would also attack becaue they are truely foriegn. ...
Would encapsulating these cells, like they are doing with pig beta cells, deal with that problem?

[Scratch]

This might be a dumb question but if I test negative for GAD antibodies doesn't that mean that my immune system is NOT killing the cells? I have a low C-pep 0.4 so I am classified as a type 1. But how would this work with someone like me? It sounds like a just have a dysfunctional pancreas.
It could be Mody (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MODY).

[BlueSky]

... if I test negative for GAD antibodies doesn't that mean that my immune system is NOT killing the cells? I have a low C-pep 0.4 so I am classified as a type 1. ...
Not cecessarily. It is possible that the antibodies that are attacking your beta cells were not picked up by the test. Apparently this happens quite often.

[gambi]

It could be Mody (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MODY).

That's what my endo says - MODY. The test is really expensive and it's really not going to tell me much and my treatment probably wouldn't change. As far as what type I have - I'm not sure.

Pathophysiology
The six recognised forms of MODY are all due to ineffective insulin production or release by pancreatic β-cells. Five of the six defects are mutations of transcription factor genes. One form is due to mutations of the glucokinase gene. For each form of MODY, multiple specific mutations involving different amino acid substitutions have been discovered. In some cases, there are significant differences in the activity of the mutant gene product that contribute to variations in the clinical features of the diabetes (such as degree of insulin deficiency or age of onset).

The following characteristics suggest the possibility of a diagnosis of MODY in hyperglycemic and diabetic patients:

Mild to moderate hyperglycemia (typically 130-250 mg/dl, or 7-14 mM) discovered before 30 years of age.
A first degree relative with a similar degree of diabetes.
Absence of positive antibodies or other autoimmunity (e.g., thyroiditis) in patient and family.
Persistence of a low insulin requirement (e.g., less than 0.5 u/kg/day) past the usual "honeymoon" period.
Absence of obesity (though obese people can get MODY), or other problems associated with type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome (e.g. hypertension, hyperlipidemia, polycystic ovary syndrome).
Cystic kidney disease in patient or close relatives.
Non-transient neonatal diabetes, or apparent type 1 diabetes with onset before 6 months of age.

So my diabetes is not autoimmune, so why wouldn't stem cells work for me? Sounds like they need to separate the testing and see if it works better for MODY's.

I think when/if there is a cure it's going to be several different things, not just one. There are too many variatons.

I'll ask my endo about the next time I go in.

[gambi]

Not cecessarily. It is possible that the antibodies that are attacking your beta cells were not picked up by the test. Apparently this happens quite often.


I've had it done twice thought and both times it was negative.
It's a mystery to me!

[BlueSky]

I've had it done twice thought and both times it was negative. ...
The fact that the autoantibody test was negative doesn't mean that you are not T1.
... Some patients who do have type 1 diabetes will never develop detectible amounts of islet autoantibodies, although this is rare. The majority of people (95% or more) with new-onset type 1 diabetes will have at least one islet autoantibody. ...
Diabetes-related Autoantibodies: The Test (http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/diabetes_auto/test.html)

As Scratch mentioned, you could also be MODY. Do you respond to drugs that stimulate insulin production?

[Scratch]

That's what my endo says - MODY. The test is really expensive and it's really not going to tell me much and my treatment probably wouldn't change. As far as what type I have - I'm not sure.



So my diabetes is not autoimmune, so why wouldn't stem cells work for me? Sounds like they need to separate the testing and see if it works better for MODY's.

I think when/if there is a cure it's going to be several different things, not just one. There are too many variatons.

I'll ask my endo about the next time I go in.

I suppose the big reason for perhaps pinning down a diagnosis is that as you seem to be aware of, what might cure one type of diabetes might not cure another type. For example, if Dr. Faustman's idea proves viable and the autoimmune attack can be disrupted and ended, that'll be great news for type 1 diabetics but of no use to MODYs.

On the other hand, some sort of beta cell implantation like the xenotransplant idea using pig cells or the stem cell idea could be beneficial to both type 1 and MODY.

[Eddy]

A friend recently published her first paper, along with several other researchers. Menstrual blood can serve as a source for stem cells:

Journal of Translational Medicine | Full text | Endometrial regenerative cells: A novel stem cell population (http://www.translational-medicine.com/content/5/1/57)

As research progresses, we can hope that non-foreign stem cell sources are found.

When I first heard about stem cells, I wondered if tumors (masses of "stuff") might be stem cells gone wild; I recall later reading something to that effect. I wonder if tumors might provide fertile ground for stem cells...

Who knows. It'll be interesting to see what research turns up.