Stem cell therapy can completely cure type 1 diabetes, newest study reports

A woman with type 1 diabetes began producing her own insulin less than 3 months after an injection of a stem cell-derived product. One year after treatment, she no longer needed insulin injections. The data are published in journal Cell.

This case is the first of its kind, and more people have since been enrolled in clinical trials in China, researchers involved in the study told the scientific community.

Hongkui Deng, Ph.D., lead author of the new study, a cell biologist at Beijing University (Beijing, China) who has previously done pioneering work on induced pluripotent stem cells, said the following: “The trial is ongoing. After [conducting] an interim analysis of the first patient’s data and presenting this work, the second and third patients have been enrolled in the trial. Other stem cell-based treatments for type 1 and type 2 diabetes are also under development and testing.”

For this study, scientists at the First Tianjin Central Hospital in China, took fat cells from a 25-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes and chemically transformed them into pluripotent stem cells, a type of cell that can mature into other cell types.

They then used them to create islet cells, which are normally found in the pancreas and produce insulin, a hormone that regulates blood glucose (sugar) levels.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system destroys the islet cells. This means that the body cannot produce as much insulin as it needs, this leads to chronically high blood glucose levels, which can lead to complications including vascular problems that affect vision, can cause nerve damage and kidney damage.

The patient in this case study had previously undergone two liver transplants and a failed pancreas transplant due to complications resulting from diabetes.

Induced islet cells created from the patient’s own cells were injected under the skin over the abdominal muscles. The researchers found that they successfully engrafted themselves into the patient’s body and even sprouted their own vascular network.

The researchers found that the woman stopped needing insulin injections about 2.5 months after the procedure, and after 1 year, she still did not need insulin injections.

In addition, the patient’s glycated hemoglobin decreased, indicating that her glucose levels remained at non-diabetic levels for a prolonged period of time.

Although this is the first case of a person continuing to produce insulin one year after receiving stem cell-based therapy, other trials are underway to develop stem cell treatments for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

In June 2024, at the 84th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, pharmaceutical company Vertex announced the results of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of a stem cell-based treatment for type 1 diabetes.

The trial results, based on data from 12 people with type 1 diabetes, involved the administration of insulin-producing islet cells derived from stem cells. In June, when the company reported the results, the trial was expanded to 37 people.

Earlier in 2021, the journal Cell Reports Medicine published data from a Canadian study to determine the safety of engrafting 17 participants with insulin-producing stem cells derived from pancreatic endoderm.

The author of this first study, James Shapiro, professor of surgery at the University of Alberta, shared his thoughts on the latest revolutionary discovery.

He said: “I am not at all surprised [by the results] – we have been working on this for the last 5 years, creating insulin-producing islet cells and reliably eliminating diabetes in mice using islet cells from human stem cells. The advantage of this approach is that in the case of humans, these are the patients’ own cells, so organ and tissue rejection is not a concern, and no or far fewer anti-rejection drugs are needed. But I’m really extremely impressed with the amazing results that the Tianjin team has achieved in their first patient. It’s truly remarkable.”