
Islet transplantation may correct type 1 diabetes, study says - aethertap
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2016/04/18/Islet-transplantation-may-correct-type-1-diabetes-study-says/8751460996474/?spt=hs&or=hn
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lolc
As a type 1 I'm obviously interested in such development. But if they do it
only "for people unable to safely control type 1 diabetes" there must be a
serious downside.

Ah, they only say this in the image caption but you have to take the
immunosuppressives forever to keep the injected cells. Some of my own cells
are still alive so I could just start taking these drugs to protect them from
my immune system. I don't think I want to though.

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andyfleming
There is another technology that, I think, MIT developed which is a sort of
envelope for cells that can protect them from antibodies without
immunosuppressive drugs.

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andyfleming
"researchers have designed a material that can be used to encapsulate human
islet cells" – [http://news.mit.edu/2016/pancreatic-cells-diabetes-
treatment...](http://news.mit.edu/2016/pancreatic-cells-diabetes-treatment-
insulin-injections-0125)

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ivan_ah
Very interesting and promising.

A related approach is to implant the islets in a "pocket" under the skin,
which supposedly is easier to monitor and requires less immuno-suppressing
drugs [1,2].

[1]
[http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v33/n5/full/nbt.3216.html](http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v33/n5/full/nbt.3216.html)
"mirrored" here
[http://www.cnd.mcgill.ca/~ivan/Papers/islets_nbt.3216.pdf](http://www.cnd.mcgill.ca/~ivan/Papers/islets_nbt.3216.pdf)
[2]
[http://www.pnas.org/content/110/47/19054.full.pdf](http://www.pnas.org/content/110/47/19054.full.pdf)

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andyfleming
I imagine this approach is less effective than another recent approach where
they put "insulin-making islet cells onto a layer of fat in the recipient’s
abdomen", right? ([http://www.endocrineweb.com/news/diabetes/17843-no-more-
insu...](http://www.endocrineweb.com/news/diabetes/17843-no-more-insulin-
shots-thanks-new-type-islet-cell-transplant))

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manicdee
Grafting islets onto kidneys was being trialled in rats a decade ago. It pains
me to see how slowly medical science progresses.

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andyfleming
Will this be able to be used in combination with the growth of Beta cells?
([http://hsci.harvard.edu/diabetes-0](http://hsci.harvard.edu/diabetes-0))

