Good news for diabetic monkeys
Cells transplanted from pigs into diabetic rhesus monkeys have survived for six months and are producing insulin, according to the American Diabetes Association, raising hopes that a cure for diabetes may be possible in the foreseeable future.
The study, which is being performed by a San Diego based company called MicroIslet, has shown that the encapsulate cells injected into monkeys whose own pancreatic islets had been destroyed were not being rejected by the monkeys’ immune systems.
“If there’s evidence that rejection is not occurring, despite no immune suppression, that’s promising and potentially important for the future,” said Nathaniel Clark, vice president of clinical affairs with the ADA.
Previous efforts to transplant pancreatic islets into human patients have met with mixed results, and have required patients to take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of their lives, in some cases making the treatment far more dangerous than the disease.
(Via Best Syndication)
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