Health News
Baby Piglet Cells Might Treat Diabetes
February 27, 2006
Two recent studies have shown that insulin-producing islet cells from the pancreas of newborn pigs can reverse type 1 diabetes in primates. The recent finding might lead to human clinical trials. Transplants of insulin-producing islet cells have long been considered a potential therapy and the first experiments using human cells were conducted as far back as 1977.
Scientists have turned to pigs as a potential source of islet cells because the animals produce a similar form of insulin to humans. Human islet cell prospects have been limited by a shortage of human tissue available for transplants, which requires islets from two pancreases donated after death. Grafts of tissue from animals, however, pose ethical and safety concerns because they raise the prospect of introducing viruses and other pathogens that might prove harmful.
In the longer term, human embryonic or adult stem cells might be used to grow islet cells for transplant, which could be cloned as a perfect genetic fit for patients or matched from large stem cell banks.