Fantastic news?

[Zhnyaka]

Have you heard this news? What do you think about it? Does that sound too good?

Stem-Cell Therapy Success in China Marks Milestone in Type 1 Diabetes Treatment

25-year-old woman with Type 1 diabetes in China has successfully undergone a stem-cell therapy that enabled her to produce her own insulin, reducing her reliance on injections.

www.emjreviews.com

 

[sgm14]

> Does that sound too good?

I find they always do.

The devil is in the details. You probably need someone capable of reading and understanding the actual study which seems to be here rather than the PR/fluff articles.

I'm capable of reading, but my understanding is very limited, but the thing that stands out to me is the phrase -

The patient was under regular immunosuppression for liver transplant maintenance.

Since the problem with all the other similar experiments has been the fact that our faulty immune system ends up killing the new insulin producing cells, that is a pretty important factor and there is no indication (or even suggestion) that the treatment would work without immunosuppression.

Researchers hope that, with further trials, stem-cell therapy may soon become a viable option for millions suffering from T1D globally.

(That quote is from the article you posted and definitely not from the actual study).

They may "hope", but nothing in this study suggests they have any reason to believe that - and so they, like us, are really just hoping for a miracle.


As an aside, one of the things in the study I found interesting was the comment :

According to recent reports, only approximately 25% of patients with T1D meet the ADA-recommended HbA1c target of 7.0% on exogenous insulin treatment

That's kinda depressing.

 

[Zhnyaka]

Since the problem with all the other similar experiments has been the fact that our faulty immune system ends up killing the new insulin producing cells, that is a pretty important factor and there is no indication (or even suggestion) that the treatment would work without immunosuppression.

I agree that mentioning immunosuppression is not good news, because I would prefer insulin therapy to immunosuppression.
but doesn't Pluripotent stem cells imply that these are the body's own cells turned into stem cells, which means the immune system shouldn't perceive them as something else?

As an aside, one of the things in the study I found interesting was the comment :

That's kinda depressing.

This requires daily monitoring from the patient, so 25% of such responsible People are rather happy news.

I don't think we'll be able to treat diabetes with a single injection in the next 10 years, but the fact that we're getting closer to treatment is very good news, isn't it?

 

[sgm14]

... but doesn't Pluripotent stem cells imply that these are the body's own cells turned into stem cells, which means the immune system shouldn't perceive them as something else?

According to the study the

autologous islet transplant would likely still necessitate the use of immunosuppressants.

My guess is that you would be correct if the patients immune system was working correctly, but the flaw in Type 1's immune systems which did not recognise our original insulin producing cells would probably also mean it would reject these new insulin producing cells.

This requires daily monitoring from the patient, so 25% of such responsible People are rather happy news.

It's talking about HbA1c which doesn't require daily monitoring.

I don't think we'll be able to treat diabetes with a single injection in the next 10 years, but the fact that we're getting closer to treatment is very good news, isn't it?

I would agree with that. I did think the graphs in the study showing insulin usage, TIR, HbA1c and FBG were all pretty impressive.