Advances in the treatment of type 1 diabetes

Recent decades have seen a lot of progress in diabetes treatment. In a new study, Per-Ola Carlsson, Professor of Medical Cell Biology, has obtained promising results. “This is the first time anyone has succeeded in transplanting insulin-producing cells into another individual without immunosuppressive drugs,” he says.

The treatment available for type 1 diabetes since the 1920s is insulin therapy. Over the years, treatment has improved, according to Carlsson.

“There’s been rapid-acting insulin, long-acting insulin and even sensor-controlled insulin pumps. But we have not been able to offer a cure. Hopefully, with this new concept, we’ll be able to offer a cure in the future.”

What the researchers have done is to transplant insulin-producing cells from a donor to a recipient with type 1 diabetes, without giving the recipient immunosuppressive drugs.

“We have done this by genetically modifying these insulin-producing cells in three different ways before transplanting them. These genetic modifications make the cells undetectable to the immune system, they go under the radar,” says Carlsson.

So far the study shows good results and now the researchers are moving on to the next step in the treatment of type 1 diabetes. They aim to develop insulin-producing cells from stem cells and produce a genetically modified pharmaceutical product that can be used for many individuals.