A groundbreaking study out of Shanghai has made a significant stride in diabetes treatment. A research team led by Dr. Yin Hao from Shanghai Changzheng Hospital’s Organ Transplant Center has successfully treated a 59-year-old patient with a 25-year history of type 2 diabetes (T2D) using stem cell-derived autologous regenerative islet transplantation, marking a world-first achievement. The study, titled “Treating a type 2 diabetic patient with impaired pancreatic islet function by personalized endoderm stem cell-derived islet tissue,” was published in Cell Discovery.
The patient underwent an innovative cell transplant in 2021 and was able to discontinue insulin medication within 11 weeks. Oral antidiabetic medications were also gradually reduced and completely stopped between weeks 44 and 56. Since 2022, the patient has been free of diabetes medication.
The team’s goal was to develop non-tumorigenic human endoderm stem cells (EnSCs) to mass-produce millions of islet cells for transplantation, reducing the risk of tumor formation due to residual undifferentiated cells. In a pilot study that paves the way for a larger investigator-initiated study, the Shanghai team generated E-islets from autologous EnSCs, transplanting 1.2 million islet equivalent units (IEQs) via percutaneous transhepatic portal vein transplantation.
During an 116-week follow-up period, no tumor formation was detected. Adverse events were temporary and treatable, including abdominal distension and loss of appetite over 4–8 weeks, and around 5% weight loss.
This study has demonstrated significant improvements in glycemic control over 27 months, providing the first ‘in-human’ evidence globally that stem cell-derived islet tissues can rescue islet function in late-stage T2D patients. The authors anticipate future studies to expand the application of stem cell-derived islet transplantation to other subtypes of diabetes and to develop “universal islets” as off-the-shelf products, potentially curing diabetes without the need for immunosuppression.- Flcube.com
