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Human Stem Cell Transplants Successfully Reversed Diabetes In Mice
An anonymous reader writes "Scientists successfully reversed diabetes in mice by transplanting mice human stem cells into mice in a discovery that may lead to way to finding a cure for a disease that affects 8.3 percent of the U.S. population. ... In an experiment designed to mimic human clinical conditions, researchers were able to wean diabetic mice off of insulin four months after the rodents were transplanted with human pancreatic stem cells (abstract). [They] were able to recreate the 'feedback loop' that enabled insulin levels to automatically rise or fall based on the rodents' blood glucose levels. Additionally, researchers found that the mice were able to maintain healthy blood sugar levels even after they were fed large quantities of sugar. After several months, researchers removed the transplanted cells from the mice and found that the cells had all the markings of normal insulin-producing pancreatic cells."
Very cool, but when considering the public health implications of diabetes research, keep in mind that this is type 1 diabetes they're describing, in which pancreatic beta cells don't produce insulin. The growing diabetic epidemic (pardon the pun) is largely (ok ok, I'm done...really) type 2, in which obesity-related factors overwhelm the body's ability to produce insulin. What the researchers are describing is unlikely to have any impact on type 2, and type 2 accounts for over 90% of diabetes in western nations.
Type 1 diabetes will be likely wiped from the planet in the next two decades -- by stem cells, monoclonal antibodies, or other therapy. There's a lot of good work going on here. Good riddance. And cheers to the researchers who make it happen. But the diabetes people inflict on themselves isn't going anywhere anytime soon.