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Under-skin islet cell transplantation may provide new option for type 1 diabetes
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Researchers from the University of Toronto are transplanting pancreatic islet cells subcutaneously as a treatment for type 1 diabetes, according to a press release from the University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering.
Unlike the abdominal cavity, liver or pancreas, which are considered hostile environments for islet cells, under the skin provides an accessible location that may keep the islets from being damaged.
“The accessible location of the skin makes islet transplantation a lot more manageable, especially if the patient responds negatively to the donor cells,” Alexander Vlahos, a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, said in the release. “The space under the skin has a large area so that it can support many islets, which is necessary for this approach.”
The current standard delivery destination is the liver; however, this requires two to three donors per transplant as recipients lose about 60% of islet cells within the first 48 hours, according to the release.
In the study, the researchers injected islet cells under the skin of diabetic beige mice and found that glucose levels could be restored to normal within 21 days, provided they created blood vessels at the same time. When the cells were removed, the glucose levels returned to diabetic levels.
Future research will focus on improving vasculature to the injection site, as adequate blood flow is essential for the injected islet cells to work.