Potential Diabetes Cure: Research At Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton
'University of Alberta research team poised to cure diabetes—again.' The team, led by Dr. James Shapiro, has been able to consistently cure diabetes in mice and is now looking to move to human trials. National Post, Nov. 18, 2020.
Almost 20 years after a University of Alberta research group made medical history by improving on a treatment for diabetes, the same team is trying to do it again.
Dr. James Shapiro and his research team at the university say they’ve been able to cure diabetes in mice, CTV Alberta reports. The team is using a technique that involves stem cells developing into pancreatic cells that can produce insulin. They believe their research can translate into a functional human cure for diabetes.
“We’ve been working with a company called ViaCyte in San Diego for the last, almost 19 years now, and this company has a cell that is derived from a human embryonic stem cell that makes human insulin in a regulated, perfect way,” Dr. Shapiro said in video research update. “We’ve been able to treat countless thousands of mice with these stem cells and effectively cure mice with diabetes over many years now.”
In the late 1990’s, Dr. Shapiro and his team in Edmonton improved on the technique of transplanting insulin-producing islet cells from the pancreases of donors into type 1 diabetics. Their technique, which relies on using a large number of the islet cells from as many as three different donors, was published to The New England Journal of Medicine in 2000 and became known as the “Edmonton protocol.”
Unfortunately, islet cell implantation has major limitations. Transplant recipients are forced to take immunosuppressant anti-rejection drugs that come with a grocery list of side effects, such as high blood pressure and increased risk of infections. Then there’s the lack of supply — organ donations — and the risk that, in most cases, the diabetic patient will slowly have to start reintegrating insulin over the years...
More, https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/university-of-alberta-research-team-poised-to-cure-diabetes-again
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Source: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/11/24/1997919/-Potential-Diabetes-cure-at-Universty-of-Alberta-Edmonton