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THOUSANDS of diabetes sufferers could soon be free from the burden of daily insulin injections, scientists said yesterday.
In a study, 15 patients with type one diabetes overcame a dependence on insulin after being treated with their own stem cells.
Type one diabetes is caused when the body's immune system destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.
Sufferers have to regularly inject themselves with the hormone insulin to control their blood sugar levels.
In the study - published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association - the patients' immune systems were suppressed using drugs to destroy the white blood cells attacking the pancreas.
They were then injected with a chemical to "loosen'' stem cells - immature cells that can develop to become different adult cells - from their bone marrow. These were filtered out then injected back into the patients' bloodstreams.
After treatment, 14 of the 15 patients tested were able to put away their injection pens after losing their insulin dependence. One patient has not had to inject himself for 35 months.
Researchers believe the stem cells developed into white blood cells, which did not attack the pancreatic beta cells.
Despite the results, the scientists warned that more work needed to be done before the procedure could be made available. There could be other reasons why the patients no longer relied on insulin injections, they said.
The stem cells may have developed into beta cells in the pancreas orhelped to stop the existing beta cellsbeing destroyed.
They also pointed out that the study included only 15 patients, aged between 14 and 31, whose progress was not monitored for an extended period.
Because of this, it is not known if further stem cell injections will be needed at a later date.
Unlike other medical trials, there was no comparison with patients leftuntreated or given only the immune suppressants.
London's Queen Mary School of Medicine stem cell biology Professor Malcolm Alison said: "In principle this is a cure because these people developed long-term control of their glucose levels.
"But these patients haven't been followed up long enough, so we cannot yet be sure.''
Diabetes UK research manager Dr Ian Frame said: "This is interesting research that demonstrates there may have been a substantial improvement in beta cell function.
"However we would wish to avoid false hope based on the very preliminary nature of these results.
"All these issues need to be addressed through more research before there are any conclusive findings in this area.''
Studies have shown bone marrow transplants given to cancer patients appear to reverse certain auto-immune diseases such as type one diabetes. Bone marrow is full of stem cells.
Treating patients with stem cells from their own blood has also been found to benefit individuals with a range of auto-immune diseases.
In a study, 15 patients with type one diabetes overcame a dependence on insulin after being treated with their own stem cells.
Type one diabetes is caused when the body's immune system destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.
Sufferers have to regularly inject themselves with the hormone insulin to control their blood sugar levels.
In the study - published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association - the patients' immune systems were suppressed using drugs to destroy the white blood cells attacking the pancreas.
They were then injected with a chemical to "loosen'' stem cells - immature cells that can develop to become different adult cells - from their bone marrow. These were filtered out then injected back into the patients' bloodstreams.
After treatment, 14 of the 15 patients tested were able to put away their injection pens after losing their insulin dependence. One patient has not had to inject himself for 35 months.
Researchers believe the stem cells developed into white blood cells, which did not attack the pancreatic beta cells.
Despite the results, the scientists warned that more work needed to be done before the procedure could be made available. There could be other reasons why the patients no longer relied on insulin injections, they said.
The stem cells may have developed into beta cells in the pancreas orhelped to stop the existing beta cellsbeing destroyed.
They also pointed out that the study included only 15 patients, aged between 14 and 31, whose progress was not monitored for an extended period.
Because of this, it is not known if further stem cell injections will be needed at a later date.
Unlike other medical trials, there was no comparison with patients leftuntreated or given only the immune suppressants.
London's Queen Mary School of Medicine stem cell biology Professor Malcolm Alison said: "In principle this is a cure because these people developed long-term control of their glucose levels.
"But these patients haven't been followed up long enough, so we cannot yet be sure.''
Diabetes UK research manager Dr Ian Frame said: "This is interesting research that demonstrates there may have been a substantial improvement in beta cell function.
"However we would wish to avoid false hope based on the very preliminary nature of these results.
"All these issues need to be addressed through more research before there are any conclusive findings in this area.''
Studies have shown bone marrow transplants given to cancer patients appear to reverse certain auto-immune diseases such as type one diabetes. Bone marrow is full of stem cells.
Treating patients with stem cells from their own blood has also been found to benefit individuals with a range of auto-immune diseases.
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