Scientists have found a way to completely cure type 1 diabetes

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Scientists have made a major breakthrough in the treatment of type 1 diabetes. They have found a new way to transplant insulin-producing cells along with blood vessel-forming cells. This approach has successfully stopped the development of the disease in laboratory mice. Thus, it has become possible to develop methods for treating type 1 diabetes in humans.

How does type 1 diabetes develop?

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body's immune system begins to attack the islet cells of the pancreas. These cells are responsible for producing the hormone insulin, which helps glucose from the blood enter the cells. As a result of the disease, the pancreas stops producing insulin, the body loses its ability to process sugar, and in order to continue living, a person must constantly inject insulin from outside.

Scientists have been looking for a cure for this disease for many years. Some success has already been achieved in the field of islet cell transplantation, but simply transplanting them is not enough - they need a favorable environment for survival and functioning. The thing is that the islets of the pancreas are surrounded by a thick network of blood vessels, and this network is extremely difficult to recreate artificially.

How does the new method work?

Weill Cornell Medical College researchers have come up with an unusual solution to this problem: they transplanted special recombinant R-VECs, which can form blood vessels along with islet cells. R-VECS are created in the laboratory from normal blood vessel cells. In experiments, the R-VECs formed a complete blood vessel network, which was able to fully support the vital functions of the transplanted islets.

The researchers transplanted islet cells and R-VECs into a group of diabetic mice. The results were amazing: the transplanted cells began to produce insulin and formed a complex blood vessel network. As a result, the animals' blood glucose levels normalized and remained stable for more than 20 weeks. In the experiment, another group of mice were transplanted with only islet cells without R-VECs. As a result, their insulin levels were significantly lower.

According to the co-author of the study, Professor David Redmond, the islet cells transplanted with R-VECs successfully adapted to the new environment.

The safety and effectiveness of the method will be tested in pre-clinical studies. If these studies are successful, the next stage will be clinical trials in humans. Such technology may in the near future, that is, within a few years, form the basis for the creation of a new method of treating type 1 diabetes. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”