Beta Cells

Preliminary experiments in a handful of people suggest that it might be possible to reverse Type 1 diabetes using an inexpensive vaccine to stop the immune system from attacking cells in the pancreas. Research in mice had already shown that the tuberculosis vaccine called BCG, prevents T cells from destroying insulin-secreting cells, allowing the pancreas to regenerate and begin producing insulin again, curing the disease. Now tests with very low doses of the vaccine in humans show transient increases in insulin production, researchers will report Sunday at a San Diego meeting of the American Diabetes Assn.

Ever since scientists started talking about the medical potential of embryonic stem cells, curing Type 1 diabetes has been one of the dearest dreams. When researchers announced in 1998 that they had derived stem cells from human embryos, their landmark report flagged juvenile-onset diabetes as a disease that might be treated by stem cell transplants. In the run-up to the 2004 vote on California's Proposition 71, diabetes was repeatedly mentioned as a target by scientists campaigning to form a state-backed stem cell agency.

Ever since scientists started talking about the medical potential of embryonic stem cells, curing Type 1 diabetes has been one of the dearest dreams. When researchers announced in 1998 that they had derived stem cells from human embryos, their landmark report flagged juvenile-onset diabetes as a disease that might be treated by stem cell transplants. In the run-up to the 2004 vote on California's Proposition 71, diabetes was repeatedly mentioned as a target by scientists campaigning to form a state-backed stem cell agency.

Preliminary experiments in a handful of people suggest that it might be possible to reverse Type 1 diabetes using an inexpensive vaccine to stop the immune system from attacking cells in the pancreas. Research in mice had already shown that the tuberculosis vaccine called BCG, prevents T cells from destroying insulin-secreting cells, allowing the pancreas to regenerate and begin producing insulin again, curing the disease. Now tests with very low doses of the vaccine in humans show transient increases in insulin production, researchers will report Sunday at a San Diego meeting of the American Diabetes Assn.

Women have long been told that gaining weight before becoming pregnant or being overweight at the start of pregnancy puts them at higher risk for gestational diabetes. But a new study finds that the first trimester is the most crucial time for weight gain that can increase the danger of developing the condition. The study, released Monday in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, looked at data from an ethnically diverse group of women who had babies between 1996 and 1998; 345 women had gestational diabetes, and 800 who had not developed the disease served as a control group.

A race is on to find a way to cure Type 1 diabetes by regenerating the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas that are lost in the disease. Without them, the body is unable to metabolize sugar, forcing patients to compensate by injecting themselves with insulin several times a day. One popular strategy has been to try to get embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells -- which can theoretically become any type of human cell -- to...

The basics In the simplest terms, diabetes means having too much glucose in your blood. Glucose is a type of sugar and a source of energy for the body. But if insulin, glucose’s “traffic cop,” isn’t doing its job, glucose accumulates in the bloodstream and all sorts of health problems can occur. Normally, most of the food a person eats gets converted into glucose, the body’s energy of choice. The circulatory system shuttles the glucose around so that hungry cells in the muscles, liver and elsewhere can snatch it out of the blood as it passes by. The liver cells are the hungriest for that glucose, because the liver is the body’s between-meal glucose storage facility.

Men with Type 1 diabetes may eventually have a way to provide tissues for their own beta-cell transplants, reseachers have found. Stem cells that normally grow into sperm can be prodded to change into insulin-producing beta-cells instead, researchers from the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington reported at the recent Philadelphia meeting of the American Society of Cell Biology. If the technology can be scaled up and improved, it could eliminate many of the problems now associated with the use of stem cell technology and pancreas transplants.

Every night, Edward Damiano wakes three to four times to monitor his 11-year-old son's blood sugar levels. Damiano administers insulin remotely through a pump when his son's blood sugar reading is high or gives him juice through a straw when his blood sugar falls. His son, David, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 11 months old, sleeps peacefully through it all ? and that's exactly what worries Damiano. "You can check his blood sugar all night long and he won't wake up," Damiano says.

An unfortunate legacy of pregnancy seems to leave women more vulnerable than men to dangerous and disabling autoimmune disorders, including diabetes and multiple sclerosis, scientists report. In a symposium concerning the self-destructive illnesses--held here earlier this month during the annual meeting of the American Assn.

Men with Type 1 diabetes may eventually have a way to provide tissues for their own beta-cell transplants, reseachers have found. Stem cells that normally grow into sperm can be prodded to change into insulin-producing beta-cells instead, researchers from the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington reported at the recent Philadelphia meeting of the American Society of Cell Biology. If the technology can be scaled up and improved, it could eliminate many of the problems now associated with the use of stem cell technology and pancreas transplants.

Every night, Edward Damiano wakes three to four times to monitor his 11-year-old son's blood sugar levels. Damiano administers insulin remotely through a pump when his son's blood sugar reading is high or gives him juice through a straw when his blood sugar falls. His son, David, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 11 months old, sleeps peacefully through it all ? and that's exactly what worries Damiano. "You can check his blood sugar all night long and he won't wake up," Damiano says.

The basics In the simplest terms, diabetes means having too much glucose in your blood. Glucose is a type of sugar and a source of energy for the body. But if insulin, glucose’s “traffic cop,” isn’t doing its job, glucose accumulates in the bloodstream and all sorts of health problems can occur. Normally, most of the food a person eats gets converted into glucose, the body’s energy of choice. The circulatory system shuttles the glucose around so that hungry cells in the muscles, liver and elsewhere can snatch it out of the blood as it passes by. The liver cells are the hungriest for that glucose, because the liver is the body’s between-meal glucose storage facility.

Women have long been told that gaining weight before becoming pregnant or being overweight at the start of pregnancy puts them at higher risk for gestational diabetes. But a new study finds that the first trimester is the most crucial time for weight gain that can increase the danger of developing the condition. The study, released Monday in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, looked at data from an ethnically diverse group of women who had babies between 1996 and 1998; 345 women had gestational diabetes, and 800 who had not developed the disease served as a control group.

A race is on to find a way to cure Type 1 diabetes by regenerating the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas that are lost in the disease. Without them, the body is unable to metabolize sugar, forcing patients to compensate by injecting themselves with insulin several times a day. One popular strategy has been to try to get embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells -- which can theoretically become any type of human cell -- to...

Dr. George Eisenbarth, chief of immunology at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, theorizes that type 1 diabetes, the most serious kind, evolves in six stages: - Inherited susceptibility from birth. - Environmental triggering due to a single or repeated exposure to viruses or chemicals. - Immune system abnormalities resulting in initial destruction of some of the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, but with preservation of sufficient insulin reserve. - Slow loss of beta cell mass.

A pouch full of brand-new cells may one day reduce the need for people with Type 1 diabetes to take daily insulin shots. ViaCyte Inc. of San Diego has already used its technique to cure diabetes in hundreds of mice, says Eugene Brandon, one of the company's directors. ViaCyte hopes to begin human trials of its implants, which are made from embryonic stem cells, by 2013, aided by $26 million in grants and loans from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the state's stem cell funding agency.