Source: WebMD Medical News
Posted: November 8, 2006
Summary;
Studies on diabetic mice revealed that adult stem cells from human bone marrow may help treat type 2 diabetes. The researchers studied male mice with high blood sugar like that in type 2 diabetes. Half the mice received two injections of adult stem cells taken from human bone marrow. With their defective immune systems, the mice didn't reject the human cells.
For comparison, the other mice didn't get any injections. Over the next month or so, mice treated with stem cells made more insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar. Stem cells turned up in the mice's pancreas, which makes insulin. The stem-cell treated mice also had less kidney damage than mice in the comparison group, the study shows. Diabetes can also cause kidney damage. Stem cells showed up in the mice's kidneys as well; the injected cells may have helped repair damage, the researchers say. From these results, researchers believe that stem cells could increase insulin production and repair or regenerate damaged or destroyed tissue in people with diabetes.
Commentary: If this fiding can be successfully replicated in a large and heterogenous patient population, it could lead to an effective treatment for adult-onset-or type 2-diabetes.
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