A team of researchers has managed to transplant pancreatic islets, demonstrating that this method can reverse type I diabetes in non -human primates.
In people with type 1 diabetes, the body's immune system attacks and destroys ß insulin producers that control blood glucose levels and are part of a group of cells in the pancreas called pancreatic islets.
The pancreatic islet transplant is a promising treatment approach for type 1 diabetes;However, current methods, which imply the islet transplant to the liver, are ineffective and can cause the loss of up to half of the transplanted ß cells due to an immune attack.
In an investigation published in Cell Reports Medicine, a team led by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), founding member of Mass General Brigham, recently developed an efficient form of transplanting pancreatic islets and showed that the method can effectively reverse the type diabetes type diabetes1 in non -human primates.
In addition to the mentioned challenges, the liver can only accommodate a limited volume of transplanted tissue.Scientists have wondered if an alternative site could provide a more hospitable environment and lead to better results.A promising site is the epiplón, the adipose tissue that begins in the stomach and covers the intestines.
To optimize the epiplón as a transplant site in an individual, the researchers used topical recombinant thrombin (which stops bleeding), an enzyme and the receiver's own plasma to design a biodegradable matrix by which the donor islets are immobilized in the epiplon.
When this strategy was used together with immunosuppressive therapy to protect the islets of the immune attack, the method normalized blood glucose levels and restored the secretion of glucose -sensitive insulin in three non -human primates with type 1 diabetes during the timeAnimals were tested.
"The achievement of the complete glycemic control is attributed to the bioengineering approach that facilitates the revascularization and reinervation process of the transplanted islets," says the first author Hong Ping Deng, MD, MSC, transplant surgery researcher in MGH."
"This preclinical study can inform the development of new strategies for the replacement of ß cells in diabetes and could change the current paradigm of clinical transplantation of pancreatic islets," says the corresponding author Senior Ji Lei, MD, MBA, MSC, medical researcher,Principal of Transplant Surgery at MGH and Assistant Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medicine Faculty."A clinical trial is being planned to test this approach."
Lei, who is also director of the CGMP center of the Special Human Cells/Islet Processing Service in MGH, points out that in addition to transplanting donor islets, researchers are also studying the wide potential application of the islet transplantation derived from stem cellwho cured a patient with type 1 diabetes for the first time in human history in 2022 and could offer an endless supply of transplantable tissue.However, there are concerns about this approach, including the possibility of tumor development.
Unlike the liver, the epiplón can be easily accessed for control purposes, and its non -vital site statdonorsIn addition, the omental site designed can house many other types of genetically modified cells,
Co -author James F. Markmann, MD, PHD, Head of the Transplant Surgery Division andDirector of Clinical Operations at the MGH Transplant Center, highlights that the study of non -human primates is a highly translational preclinical animal model."The application of this strategy, particularly in stem cell based therapy, has the potential to revolutionize the paradigm for the treatment of patients with type 1 diabetes," he says.
