Why Transplanted Insulin Cells Die

�New research can enhance survival of islets transplants and ameliorate treatment of type 1 diabetes.


Transplantation of insulin-producing cell islets, alleged islets of langerhans is an appealing strategy for treatment of type 1 diabetes. But it turns out that these are short-lived, and the procedure needs to be repeated.


Now researchers at Link�ping University and Uppsala University in Sweden hind end show that accumulation of protein aggregatess, amyloid, in the transplanted cells whitethorn be causation their death.


Until now it was not known wherefore this insulin production ceases. The discovery now beingness published in The New England Journal of Medicine may change the course of diabetes research.


Transplant attempts have been carried out for more than 30 years. Hundreds of patients have had healthy insulin-producing islets of Langerhans cured from the pancreas of donors. These transplants, which usually postulate the injection of prison cell islets into the liver, normally go well, and the patients initially don't have to take insulin. But inside a year or deuce years the insulin production will stop from the transplanted cells.


"We have studied this in mice, simply it has naturally been difficult to do so in mankind. Now we have had an chance to examine such transplants in an individual with type 1 diabetes," says Gunilla T. Westermark, helper professor of cell biology at Link�ping University.


In close to half of the cell islets examined, 43 percent, the researchers establish lumps of amyloid.


"We previously know that amyloid production is a symptom of stress that leads to cell death in type 2 diabetes. Perhaps the same thing happens in a transfer, when cells are open to great stress," says Gunilla T. Westermark.


Interestingly, there were quite a few unaffected cubicle islets unexpended in the liver. If we toilet prevent the production of amyloid at an early stage, these cells would be able to stay on to bring about insulin. One possible scheme is to create a drug; another would be to refine the methods used in transplants in order to reduce stress.


Vetenskapsradet (The Swedish Research Council)
http://www.vr.se



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