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'Cure' Found for Diabetic Patient

Posted on: Wednesday, 9 March 2005, 06:00 CST

Researchers were celebrating yesterday after a diabetic patient was "cured" by a groundbreaking cell transplant procedure.

The team at King's College Hospital, London, said the islet cell transplantation in a patient with Type 1 diabetes ( a 61-year-old man ( was a first in the UK.

He no longer needs insulin injections after having three transplants of islet cells from the pancreases of dead donors.

Past islet transplants have produced partial successes, by reducing the amount of insulin that patients need, although they still required regular injections.

Canadian researchers were the first to achieve insulin independence, now followed by the King's College team.

Islet cells are found in the pancreas and produce insulin, which is needed to control blood sugar levels.

They are obtained from donor pancreases and injected into the patient's liver. Once there, the cells develop their own blood supply and start producing insulin.

The King's College patient had suffered from diabetes for over 30 years, suffering potentially life-threatening hypoglycaemic attacks.

But he is now producing his own insulin and is free of hypoglycaemia.

Two other patients in the UK have been treated using the procedure with partial success, although they still need small doses of insulin.

Researcher Professor Stephanie Amiel, a consultant in diabetes, said the breakthrough was "hugely exciting".

"The implications for the future are enormous," she said.

"Eventually this could mean the end of insulin dependence for all Type 1 diabetes sufferers.

"In its current state of technology though, islet transplantation is not perfect.

"We do not have enough organ donors, therefore we cannot extract enough islets to help all Type 1 patients." Prof Amiel said more research needed to be done to perfect the islet isolation procedures and the drugs used to prevent rejection of the cells.

"At present we can therefore only offer this treatment to patients in whom conventional treatments are failing in a major way.

"However, it is our aim that ultimately all people with Type 1 diabetes would become eligible for islet transplantation and free from insulin dependence."

Nigel Heaton, a consultant liver surgeon at King's College Hospital, said the transplantation was "remarkable".

"King's is the first centre in the UK to achieve insulin independence in Type 1 patients," he said.

"The result of this work will have far-reaching implications, not only in Type 1 diabetes patients, but also in the wider area of cell research.

"We have shown that cell transplantation, with both pancreatic islet cells and previously with hepatocyte (liver) cells, can offer patients a valuable alternative to conventional treatments."

Source: The Journal - Newcastle-upon-Tyne

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