“we consider the research novel and an important step forward towards developing new therapies,”
said sam el-osta
, a diabetes expert from the monash department of diabetes in melbourne, australia.
treating patients with type 1 diabetes has proven challenging because by the time a diagnosis is made, most of the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas have been destroyed. recent developments in the genetics of the chronic condition have advanced knowledge on the subject and brought a new wave of interest in the discovery of novel therapies.while it was once believed a diabetic pancreas was too damaged to heal, el-osta said their research shows a diabetic pancreas is “not incapable of producing insulin” and their proof-of-concept addresses “unmet medical needs in type 1 diabetes.”
“patients rely on daily insulin injections to replace what would have been produced by the pancreas,” el-osta said. “currently, the only other effective therapy requires pancreatic islet transplantation and while this has improved health outcomes for individuals with diabetes, transplantation relies on organ donors, so it has limited widespread use.”
while more research is required before the therapy can be applied to human subjects, the team is optimistic about its potential. “before you get to patients, there are many issues to be resolved,” said keith al-hasani, another expert at the monash department of diabetes. “more work is required to define the properties of these cells and establish protocols to isolate and expand them.