Researcher tricks immune system in diabetic mice Nov 21, 2008
This is the problem when people with type 1 diabetes undergo human islet cell transplantation ... "This technique is a highly attractive potential therapy for human islet cell transplantation." The findings were reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science in the fall ... They then injected these chemically treated cells into diabetic mice before and after the mice underwent islet cell transplantation. (EurekAlert!)
Susan Lim: Surgeon cutting path to cure Oct 15, 2008
It's great to have a wide variety of stem cell types to choose from, and current research is focused on the best cell type for clinical applications in a particular disease," Lim said. During her time at Cambridge, she was awarded an Ethicon Traveling Scholarship to Minneapolis to study islet cell transplantation and participate in a human pancreas transplant program. Lim returned to Singapore in 1990 to assume the position of senior lecturer and consultant in surgery at the National University... (Jakarta Post, Indonesia -- Features)
Boosting Survival Of Insulin-cell Transplants For Type 1 Diabetes Jul 13, 2008
(June 10, 2008) Researchers have modified the procedure for islet cell transplantation and achieved insulin independence in diabetes patients with fewer but better-functioning pancreatic islet. . (Science Daily)
Promising advances in islet cell transplants for diabetes Jun 10, 2008
University of Illinois at Chicago researchers have modified the procedure for islet cell transplantation and achieved insulin independence in diabetes patients with fewer but better-functioning pancreatic islet cells ... Progress in islet cell transplantation has been limited by the shortage of donor organs, said Oberholzer, who is associate professor of surgery, bioengineering and endocrinology at UIC. ... "We have proven that if you have the right team and the right environment you can achieve... (EurekAlert!)
Islet Cell Transplants Aid Type 1 Diabetics May 20, 2008
"Islet cell transplantation can be a good option. Patients can regain hypoglycemia unawareness and improve metabolic control," said the study's lead author, Dr. Lisa Gorn, a third-year endocrinology fellow at the medical school. However, Gorn pointed out that because islet cell transplantation still requires lifelong immunosuppressant medications, the procedure is reserved for those with difficult to control diabetes and people who have severe, recurrent episodes of hypoglycemia ... Islet cell... (MEDLINEplus)
Transplant hope for 'at risk' diabetics Feb 11, 2008
Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: "We are delighted that Diabetes UK-funded research has proved to the Government what huge immediate and long-term potential islet cell transplantation has. "The Department of Health's decision to fund this programme will be life changing for some people with Type 1 diabetes who suffer from the most serious effects of hypoglycaemia. Resolving the worst cases could save the NHS a significant amount of money, as hypoglycaemic attacks cost... (Telegraph.co.uk)
Living Donors May Be Best Source Of Insulin-producing Islets For Diabetes Treatment Nov 28, 2007
Islet cell transplantation is the only known cure for insulin-dependent diabetes, but there are simply not enough deceased donors available to meet the demand for islet cells, says study author Dr. Kwang-Won Kim ... 28, 2002) More diabetic patients are coming off insulin following pancreatic islet cell transplantation than ever before, according to multiple studies presented at the XIX International Congress of The. (Science Daily)
Breakthrough research identifies how cells from pigs may cure diabetes Sep 13, 2007
With the pigs that are currently housed in our biosecure facility, were already expediting the widespread availability of islet cell tissue so that an adequate supply of pig donors will be available for clinical islet cell transplantation trials using patients with diabetes. . (EurekAlert!)
Promise of a normal life for diabetics Aug 19, 2007
He is one of just 12 people in Britain who have received a pioneering treatment called islet cell transplantation which he credits with giving him something close to a second stab at life ... Lane's diabetes consultant, Professor Stephanie Amiel of King's College Hospital in south London, and a consortium of five other specialists from hospitals in London, Oxford, Bristol, Manchester and Newcastle, have spent years exploring the potential of islet cell transplantation ... Islet cell... (Guardian Unlimited)
Updates: Whatever happened to...? Jul 22, 2007
Transplants for DiabetesDiabetics have dreamed of an injection-free cure, and for decades one great hope has been islet cell transplantation. But since 1974, only about 750 individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus have received transplants of islets (derived from cadavers), which contain the insulin-producing beta cells, and very few of them achieved insulin independence beyond four years. (Scientific American)
Stem cell veto's inconvenient truth Jun 13, 2007
Creating new beta cells could mean a cure for Type 1 diabetes as they would serve as a source of cells for islet cell transplantation. They could also provide a powerful tool for controlling Type 2 diabetes. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Opinion)
MicroIslet Changes Strategy to Accelerate Xenotransplantation Clinical Trials May 11, 2007
This change in strategy is intended to shorten the time lines involved and reduce the costs associated with developing and marketing the Company's proprietary and patented islet cell transplantation technologies for use by people suffering from insulin-dependent diabetes. ADVERTISEMENT. (Primezone Releases)
Pigs arrived in biosecure facility Feb 23, 2007
The demand for high-health pig islets has been significantly heightened since Dr. Hering and his team last March documented their medical milestone in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Medicine pig islet cell transplantation yielding long-term diabetes reversal in monkeys, opening the path to unprecedented new opportunities for patients with diabetes. "This is the reason Spring Point Project was established," said Tom Cartier, president and chairman on the board of Spring Point... (EurekAlert!)
Diabetes repair 'occurs in womb' Jan 23, 2007
Jo Brodie, of the charity Diabetes UK, said scientists trying to perfect islet cell transplantation as a treatment for diabetes faced problems sourcing enough material, and preventing the recipients' immune systems from attacking the newly transplanted cells. "If cells with the potential to produce insulin can pass from mother to child during pregnancy, without the child's immune system destroying them as seems to be the case here, then this could open up promising new avenues of research, and... (BBC News -- Health)
