The gel, which was implanted alongside a Pancreatic cell transplant in monkeys with type 1 diabetes, kills immune cells and prevents the cells from being rejected.
By Christa Lest.
A microscope image of a microgel with a molecule on it's surface.
Esma Yolcu is a person.
Diabetes control in monkeys was improved without the transplant cells being rejected.
The immune system of people with type 1 diabetes mistakenly attacks islet cells in the pancreas that normally produce the blood-sugar-lowering hormone insulin, so they have to inject it to regulate their blood sugar. People with type 1 diabetes who want to produce their owninsulin need lifelong immunosuppressive drugs to prevent the cells from being rejected, which is why islet cells from deceased donors can be used. They are at greater risk of infections and cancer because of this.
Ji Lei, a researcher at Harvard Medical School, and his colleagues injected a natural agent called streptozotocin into seven monkeys, inducing type 1 diabetes. The scientists took islets from healthy monkeys and mixed them with the microgels. The cells and microgels were put in the monkeys' abdomens.
Four of the monkeys received microgels filled with a natural protein that kills immune cells and another that glues the FasL to the microgel. The gel should be mixed with the islet cells before the transplant to prevent it from being rejected.
Three monkeys received islet transplants along with an empty microgel. The seven monkeys were 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217
The monkeys that received the SA-FasL microgel produced the same amount ofinsulin as before they developed diabetes, at least on an empty stomach, according to the researchers. The monkeys produced 80 to 90 per cent of their normal levels ofinsulin after meal.
The treatment is safe, with no signs of transplant rejection, because the monkeys have normal organ function.
Usually we use very aggressive treatment and multiple drugs, but in this case we don't.
The four monkeys that received the microgel did not accept their islet transplant within a few weeks.
The goal is to one day provide hospitals with an off-the-shelf type of technology, which would allow surgeons to implant the microgel alongside islet transplants.
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