Insulin regeneration hope
Friday July 2nd, 2010
Sufferers of the most serious forms of diabetes might well be able to produce their own life-saving insulin, British researchers have discovered for the first time.
Pioneering research by a study team of scientists has found that the body fights back when Type 1 diabetes strikes by replicating insulin-making islet cells in the patient’s own pancreas.
The discovery challenged the popular belief that the islets lose their functions and die.
Researchers, including Professor Noel Morgan from Peninsula Medical School and Dr Alan Foulis from Glasgow Royal Infirmary, made the breakthrough after studying samples taken from people who died from the disease.
Professor Adrian Bone, professor of cell and molecular biology at University of Brighton, said findings in the research, funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, could lead to treatments that prevent the development or progression of diabetes in newly-diagnosed patients.
About 285 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes and its costs Britain’s NHS more than £9 billion a year to treat.
“Our observations suggest the cells don’t just passively succumb but rather try to mount a defence in order to delay the onset of the symptoms of diabetes,” he said.
“This response takes the form of a marked increase in the rate of islet cell replication following the attack on the pancreas by Type 1 diabetes patients’ own immune system.”
The samples were taken, with patient and family consent, by Dr Foulis and the team is looking to understand what signals trigger the pancreas in Type 1 diabetes patients to try to regenerate.
“This increased understanding could lead to the exciting possibility of helping newly-diagnosed patients to replace their own islet cells and delay the need for insulin treatment,” explained Professor Bone.
“The development of a therapy is still some way in the future but we do believe that we have opened up an exciting new avenue for research into the possible prevention and treatment of diabetes.”
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