People diagnosed with Type I diabetes could attain a longer period of insulin independence by undergoing a treatment that includes stem cell transplantation according to a group of Brazilian and American scientists.
In Type 1 diabetes, a patient's own immune system destroys the insulin producing cells in pancreas leading to the elimination of insulin production and such patients require regular shots of insulin. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Scientists from the University of Sao Paulo conducted a small scale study where a group of 15 patients were given powerful drugs in order to stop the immune system from destroying the beta cells that produce insulin. The patients were then injected with stem cells, taken from their own blood.
After analyzing the patients, researchers found that some of the patients reacted quickly while some others took a longer time to react. While they saw positive effect in 14 of the 15 patients, the time of effect also varied between 35 months to 1 month.
In the report, researchers wrote, "Very encouraging results were obtained in a small number of patients with early-onset disease. Ninety-three percent of patients achieved different periods of insulin independence and treatment-related toxicity was low, with no mortality."
However they added that the study was still in its fetal stage and more research was needed before confirming the treatment. "Randomized controlled trials and further biological studies are necessary to confirm the role of this treatment in changing the natural history of type 1 DM and to evaluate the contribution of hematopoietic stem cells to this change", they said.
