新幹細胞治療法可減輕第一型糖尿病症狀

新幹細胞治療法可減輕第一型糖尿病症狀

【大紀元4月11日報導】（中央社芝加哥十日法新電）根據最新一期「美國醫學會」期刊的報導，一種實驗性幹細胞治療法，可以讓第一型糖尿病患者在幾個月內都不需要接受任何治療，其中一個病例免治療時間甚至長達三年。

報告中指出，十五位接受實驗治療的患者中，有十三人可以不必像大多數的糖尿病患者一樣注射胰島素，仍可維持正常生活。

其中一名患者甚至長達三年，沒有使用任何控制血糖的綜合胰島素。

負責這個研究報告的資深研究員之一，美國西北大學費因堡醫學院的免疫療法主任柏特指出，這是第一次發現可以不必補充胰島素治療第一型糖尿病的方法。

邁阿密大學史凱勒教授指出，這項初步的進展燃起大家對第一型糖尿病患者，可能不再長期受病情所苦的希望。

他說，這是許多試圖利用細胞治療法阻斷第一期糖尿病病情惡化的第一項成果。

第一型糖尿病在所有疾病中所佔的比例約是百分之五到十，但會引發如眼盲、腎衰竭、心臟病和中風等嚴重的併發症。

這種病情起因於患者自身的免疫系統攻擊並破壞胰腺裡製造胰島素的beta細胞，形成荷爾蒙不足現象，影響到血糖值。

大部分的病患在接受臨床診斷時，體內百分之六十到八十的beta細胞已經被破壞殆盡。

研究人員表示，仍將繼續這項實驗評估它的安全性和效果。它初期顯現的結果令人振奮，除了前述的益處外，副作用也很低，只有一例引起肺炎，另兩例出現內分泌失調。

邁阿密大學史凱勒教授指出，這項初步的進展燃起大家對第甲型糖尿病患者，可能不再長期受病情所苦的希望。研究人員病人身上從得幹細胞，進行培植，然後再注回病人身上，並加強對免疫系統的壓制，保護胰臟上的beta細胞。

sterm cell treatment for diabetes

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3030473

ABC news

Last Update: 5:01 PM ET Apr 10, 2007

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Treating patients with stem cells made from their own blood showed promise as a treatment for 15 patients in Brazil newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Preliminary results of the treatment, which were detailed in the April 11 Journal of the American Medical Association, showed 13 of the patients have so far been able to able to stop using insulin to treat their disease. The first patient has been followed for three years with the last patient treated and then followed for seven months.

Type 1 diabetes, or juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disorder that's usually diagnosed in children or young adults and it destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas known as beta cells. Insulin is needed to help the body regulate blood sugar, which if not controlled can cause organ damage and death.

Researchers involved in the study says it's the first time the stem-cell treatment has been shown to work in a small group of newly diagnosed diabetes patients.

One of the study authors, Richard K. Burt, who is the chief of the immunotherapy division at Northwestern University in Chicago, said it's way too early to call the treatment a cure and said additional and larger studies would be needed.

The stem-cell treatment regimen is risky. In an interview, Burt explained that blood was first withdrawn from patients who ranged in age from 14 to 31, and then frozen. Patients were then given four days of chemotherapy in order to destroy their immune systems and were also given strong antibiotics to fight infection. The stem cells in the patients' blood were then put back into the body. Patients were hospitalized for about three weeks.

Burt said the idea was to "reset" the immune system by shutting down the immune system and then injecting the stem cells in order to help the body rebuild the system and stop the destruction of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

Burt, who designed the study, said the treatment didn't work in the first patient who had also been treated with high doses of steroids. In 13 of 14 patients subsequently treated, there were able to stop using insulin and have maintained normal blood sugar levels. He said the procedure was conducted in patients who had been diagnosed with diabetes in the prior six weeks before too many beta cells had been destroyed.

Patients enrolled in the study between November 2003 and July 2006 and they were followed until February of this year. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil.

Burt said the study was conducted there because he couldn't find anyone in the U.S. willing to conduct such a study, but he hopes the encouraging results will make it possible to study the treatment in the U.S.

There's currently no cure for Type 1 diabetes, which affects about 2 million Americans. Type 1 diabetes differs from the more common, type 2 form of diabetes, a condition that's often linked to weight-gain and more often diagnosed in people age 45 and older. Patients with type 1 diabetes are required to take daily doses of insulin.

The study was funded by the Brazilian Health Ministry, Genzyme Corp. (GENZGenzyme Corporation

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