Canadian researchers have developed a cell transplant technique that may someday eliminate the need for insulin injections in the treatment of Type 1 Diabetes, often called Juvenile Diabetes.

Researchers injected pancreatic cells into eight patients, where they took up residence and began to produce insulin. This treatment resulted in better control of blood sugar than insulin injections. Following the treatment, all patients were given glucose tolerance tests, in which they all performed well enough that none of them met the criteria for diabetes anymore, although most of them still had "impaired" glucose tolerance and 2 of them still had elevated, although improved, fasting glucose levels.

The treatment also had the effect of reducing glycosylated hemoglobin values as well. This is an altered form of hemoglobin that forms when blood glucose levels get high. Often referred to as HgA1c, it is often used as a better blood marker for diabetes and to assess blood glucose control, since it correlates with the average glucose levels in the blood for a long period of time, rather than the standard blood glucose level which is just an instantaneous value.

All patients were put on 3 different immunosuppressive medications prior to the cell transplants, which were all obtained from donated organs. There is currently a larger study set to begin this summer, which will attempt to confirm these promising results. The New England Journal of Medicine found the results of the study so important that they released it almost 2 months early on their web site.

New England Journal of Medicine July 27, 2000; early release article.