Researchers may soon find a cure for Type 1 diabetes that can put an end to the daily insulin shots, I4U reports.
Researchers from MIT and Boston Children's Hospital, who are conducting the new research, claim that the daily painful insulin shots will soon become a thing of the past as they are moving closer to developing a better diabetes treatment.
Patients suffering from Type 1 diabetes require insulin injections daily to regulate their blood sugar level.
Conducting the tests on mice, researchers found that encapsulated human cells could cure diabetes for up to six months, without provoking an immune response.
The approach "has the potential to provide diabetics with a new pancreas that is protected from the immune system, which would allow them to control their blood sugar without taking drugs." Daniel Anderson, one of the authors of the study, said in a press release.
The researchers created a collection of almost 800 alginate derivatives and evaluated the immune response to each of them. They found triazole-thiomorpholine dioxide (TMTD) had a minimal immune response in mice and large animals.
Researchers implanted human islet cells encapsulated in TMTD in mice, which began producing insulin and kept blood sugar under control for 174 days.
"The really exciting part of this was being able to show, in an immune competent mouse, that when encapsulated these cells do survive for a long period of time, at least six months," said co-author Omid Veiseh. "The cells can sense glucose and secrete insulin in a controlled manner, alleviating the mice's need for injected insulin."
Researchers plan to conduct further tests in other animals before performing clinical trails in diabetic patients.
Daniel Anderson says. "Our goal is to continue to work hard to translate these promising results into a therapy that can help people."
