Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic condition defined by the body’s inability to generate insulin. Adult stem cells may have the potential to ameliorate and perhaps cure the consequences of the disease. According to the American Diabetes Association, about 1.25 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, with an estimated 40,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
Type 1 diabetes, often known as juvenile diabetes, is most commonly diagnosed in children and young adults, although it may also strike people in their late 30s and early 40s. This kind of diabetes affects just 5% of individuals with diabetes.
When the beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed by the immune system, the body stops generating insulin, resulting in type 1 diabetes. The body converts carbohydrates and starches into glucose for energy, but insulin is required to transport glucose from the circulation to the cells.
Patients with type 1 diabetes usually need to take insulin for the rest of their lives. Regenerative medicine and stem cell treatment, when combined with a good lifestyle and diet, may allow people to reduce and potentially eliminate their insulin usage. Stem cell treatment may potentially be able to heal tissues and organs that have been harmed by diabetes.
Recent research suggests that Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) may be able to ameliorate, if not reverse, the consequences of diabetes mellitus. MSCs may differentiate and move to the site of injury, where they release growth factors or cytokines. The immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells — beta cells inside the pancreatic islets – in type 1 diabetes. MSCs may help boost insulin production, increase the number of islet cells in the pancreas, improve islet survival, and cure diabetic ulcers and limb ischemia, according to recent studies.
According to a research published in The Journal of Cell Therapy, MSCs effectively develop into insulin-producing cells in the pancreatic islet microenvironment both in vitro and in vivo. After 38 days of co-culture, MSCs differentiated into insulin-producing cells, as shown by insulin and C-peptide labelling. MSCs have also been found to go to the site of damage, the pancreatic islets, and the liver, where they
Adult stem cells may be collected from a patient’s own tissue, such as adipose (fat) tissue, muscle, teeth, skin, or bone marrow, and are present in every region of the body. Under local anaesthetic, stem cells may be extracted from a patient’s tissue in around 30-90 minutes during a straightforward and safe outpatient procedure. After the extraction, they may usually be administered right away. The technique is safe, ethical, and legal, and it causes little pain to the patient.