Can this revolutionary cell therapy cure diabetes?

Chinese researchers have revealed the first-ever cell therapy-based diabetic cure. After receiving a novel cell transplant in 2022, a 59-year-old patient has been off medicine.

The process entailed generating synthetic versions of the pancreatic cells that produce insulin. Blood sugar levels are regulated by these cells. The lady needed several daily insulin injections due to her 25 years of type 2 diabetes.

The arguments

With millions of people suffering from this chronic illness, the new cell therapy could be a breakthrough in the treatment of diabetes. It has the potential to significantly reduce healthcare costs in China and other countries.

Progress in Regenerative Medicine

This cell therapy’s success is a major advancement in regenerative medicine since it shows that the body can produce new pancreatic islet tissue and control blood sugar levels without the need for outside insulin.

Extended-Duration Performance

It appears that the therapy may offer a long-term solution for diabetes management, lowering reliance on medicine and enhancing quality of life, as evidenced by the patient’s ability to stay insulin-free for 33 months after transplant.

This therapy has the potential to lower the cost of treating diabetes if it is widely used. Millions of people in China alone are permanently dependent on insulin injections; many may be freed from this dependency if a treatment could be found.

Ethical and Accessibility Considerations

Although the procedure’s success is encouraging, concerns about its affordability and accessibility still exist. In order to handle worldwide diabetic care, it will be imperative to guarantee that this cutting-edge medication is accessible to a large community, not just a select few.

Caution and Validation

Although the results seem encouraging, prudence is advised. Before the medication can be regarded as a surefire treatment for diabetes, more investigation and validation are required to verify its safety and effectiveness in a broader and more varied patient group.

The facts

Within eleven weeks of the transplant in July 2021, the patient no longer required exogenous insulin. A year later, oral medication was discontinued entirely after being progressively cut back. For thirty-three months, the patient has not taken insulin.

A group from the Centre for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Renji Hospital, and Shanghai Changzheng Hospital made the development. On April 30, the results were published in the Cell Discovery journal.

The team recreated pancreatic islet tissue by using the patient’s peripheral blood mononuclear cells, converting them into “seed cells”. In the field of regenerative medicine, this is a major advancement.

Diabetes is a chronic condition where the body fails to regulate blood sugar levels properly. Insulin produced by pancreatic islet cells is crucial for this regulation. Type 2 diabetes, the most common form, affects nearly 90% of diabetics and is largely diet-related.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention state that there isn’t a treatment for diabetes at this time. Weight loss, a nutritious diet, medicine, and regular insulin injections and monitoring are common treatment modalities.

The world’s largest concentration of diabetic patients is found in China. In China, 40 million people require lifetime insulin injections, out of 140 million people with diabetes, according to the International Diabetes Federation.