This could mean the end of insulin injections

By Gwyn Wright via SWNS

A replacement pancreas could help people with type one diabetes regulate their blood sugar levels, according to new research.

It could end the need for some people with the condition to inject themselves with insulin, scientists said.

People with the condition find their pancreas produces little or no insulin but now a stem cell therapy called PEC-Direct could give them a new one.

A new study found people who used the treatment saw increases in the amount of C-peptide, a substance the pancreas makes alongside insulin, that their body produced.

C-peptide and insulin are released from the pancreas at the same time in roughly equal amounts, which means measuring C-peptide can show how much insulin the body is making.

It is the first time substantial increases in C-peptide have been shown in type one diabetics using a stem cell-based therapy.

The therapy, which has been developed by US scientists, could end the need for people with diabetes to use finger sticks, regularly inject themselves with insulin shots and carry around bulky devices.

Instead, it could give people a long-term source of insulin so their blood pressure levels can stay stable without the need for such devices.

It also cuts the risk of someone accidentally cutting their blood sugar to dangerously low levels, which can happen when someone injects insulin.

The new device contains a pouch containing stem cell-derived pancreatic cells which mature into insulin-producing cells once implanted into the body.

The open device membrane allows blood vessels to grow into the device to contact the cells.

Users have to take immunosuppressive drugs to avoid an immune reaction.

The treatment is meant for patients with high-risk type one diabetes, who may be especially vulnerable to acute complications due to factors such as recurrent severe low blood sugar or frequent and extreme blood sugar fluctuations that are difficult to control.

For the study, 10 people with type one diabetes who had been diagnosed at least five years before the start of the study were given the stem cell therapy.

Participants had hypoglycemia unawareness, which meant they were not able to tell when their blood sugar levels were too low.

Initial data from one patient showed a significant increase in the amount of C-peptide their body was producing, which led to improvements in their body’s ability to regulate blood glucose levels six months after they were given PEC-Direct.

Since then, increased C-peptide levels were seen in multiple patients, along with decreases in average blood sugar levels over the past three months by as much as 1.5 per cent and decreases in the amount of insulin patients needed to administer by as much as 70 per cent.

Dr. Manasi Sinha Jaiman, chief medical officer of ViaCyte Inc which created the therapy said: “This research represents the first instance in multiple patients of clinically relevant increases in C-peptide, indicative of insulin production, with a stem cell-based therapy delivered in a device.

“The results suggest stem cell-based replacement therapy has the potential to provide blood glucose control and could one day eliminate the need for injecting or dosing insulin externally.

“The study provides further proof-of-concept that continued optimization of PEC-Direct has promise as a functional cure for type one diabetes.”

The findings were presented at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.