Feb

Diabetes in the News

Jo on February 25th, 2008

Good morning everyone. Hope your week has been great and your diabetes under control! Are you or a loved one newly diagnosed? Then travel to Diabetes.About.com and start reading up. There are great articles there, but the best part is the forum area where you can chit chat with other diabetics.

This next story is going to get a lot of people up in arms. I do not believe in embryonic stem-cell usage, but research has found a way to convert these stem cells into insulin producing cells. ::: sigh :::

Researchers Make Stem Cells That Secrete Insulin
Mouse study suggests it could help control diabetes in humans

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) — Scientists have found a way to convert human embryonic stem (ES) cells into cells that release insulin in response to glucose and ease a diabetes-like condition in mice, a new study says.

Further research and development of this technique could lead to a renewable source of cells for treatment of people with diabetes, according to Emmanuel Baetge, of Novocell Inc., in San Diego, and colleagues, who published their work online in the current issue of Nature Biotechnology.

[snip]

… the researchers transplanted immature beta cells derived from human ES cells into mice whose beta cells had been destroyed by chemical treatment. After one to three months, the transplanted cells developed into glucose-responsive, insulin-secreting cells and helped control blood glucose levels in the mice.

Seaweed Link To Diabetes Treatment

A seaweed ingredient, alginate, could stop people’s bodies rejecting insulin-producing cells taken from pigs in xenotransplants.

Researchers say the jelly-like substance envelopes the pig cells so the patient’s immune system does not destroy them once they are injected.

This allows animal cells to carry on producing insulin, potentially banishing the need for people with diabetes to inject themselves with insulin.

Xenotransplants are a potential alternative to islet cells transplanted from the pancreas of humans to people with diabetes.

The procedure uses organs or cells from animals, such as pigs, which are transplanted into people.

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