“First Type 1 Diabetes Patient in Europe is Free from Insulin Therapy after Undergoing Diabetes Research Institute’s BioHub Transplant Technique”
This is breaking news as of yesterday!
“Miami, FL – June 9, 2016 – A 41-year-old man who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 11 has become the first patient in Europe to discontinue insulin therapy after receiving a transplant of pancreatic islet cells using an innovative technique developed by the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) at the University of Miami. Following the DRI’s BioHub protocol, Drs. Federico Bertuzzi, head of the Islet Transplant Program, Mario Marazzi, head of the Tissue Therapy Unit, Luciano De Carlis, director of General Surgery and Transplantation, and collaborators at Ospedale Niguarda Ca’ Granda in Milan, Italy, transplanted the insulin-producing cells within a biological scaffold engineered onto the surface of the omentum, a highly vascularized tissue covering abdominal organs. This successful post-transplant outcome confirms the initial results achieved by the Diabetes Research Institute in August of 2015.”
To read the rest of the press release, follow this link issued by The Diabetes Research Institute in Miami.
https://www.diabetesresearch.org/first-type-1-diabetes-patient-in-europe-is-free-from-insulin-therapy-after-undergoing-diabetes-research-institutes-biohub-transplant-technique
Here is my laymen’s version of this medical breakthrough:
The Basics:
Type One Diabetes is an autoimmune disease that occurs when ones own immune system attacks its Beta Cells (these are the cells that make insulin. They are located in the pancreas and are part of a group of pancreatic cells or “islet cells” that are in charge of blood sugar regulation and a number of other tasks; see “Islets of Langerhans”).
Why I am excited:
This is exciting research that is actually working in a real, live human. Here is why it is different than other research out there, from my own understanding:
Two of the main obstacles to beta cell transplantation are 1.) Immune suppressing anti-rejection drugs are super harsh on the body and currently necessary for transplants and, 2.) Diabetes is an autoimmune disease, so the newly transplanted cells would likely be doomed from the get-go, meaning that it would only be a matter of time before the “cured” patient was once again killing their own beta cells and once again on supplemental insulin.
Are you with me so far?
The scientists at The Diabetes Research Institute have created a “BioHub”, this is a form of encapsulation, created to protect the islet cells from destruction at the hands of a diabetics wildly destructive immune system. Additionally they are using the Omentum, a fold of abdominal tissue that connects the stomach with other organs in the abdominal cavity. This is proving to be a more hospitable environment for the new cells to flourish as opposed to the liver, which is what has typically been used as the transplantation site. The people at The DIR are calling the “BioHub” a “bioengineered mini organ.” They also have two different "scaffolding" ideas that are being tested. One is biodegradable, using the enzyme, thrombin as used in the case of now insulin independent man in Europe, mentioned above, and the other is a small sponge-like silicone disc for the cells to hide and mature in.
Here is a picture of what it looks like and a link to The DIR, "BioHub" FAQ page if you want more info.
This is breaking news as of yesterday!
“Miami, FL – June 9, 2016 – A 41-year-old man who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 11 has become the first patient in Europe to discontinue insulin therapy after receiving a transplant of pancreatic islet cells using an innovative technique developed by the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) at the University of Miami. Following the DRI’s BioHub protocol, Drs. Federico Bertuzzi, head of the Islet Transplant Program, Mario Marazzi, head of the Tissue Therapy Unit, Luciano De Carlis, director of General Surgery and Transplantation, and collaborators at Ospedale Niguarda Ca’ Granda in Milan, Italy, transplanted the insulin-producing cells within a biological scaffold engineered onto the surface of the omentum, a highly vascularized tissue covering abdominal organs. This successful post-transplant outcome confirms the initial results achieved by the Diabetes Research Institute in August of 2015.”
To read the rest of the press release, follow this link issued by The Diabetes Research Institute in Miami.
https://www.diabetesresearch.org/first-type-1-diabetes-patient-in-europe-is-free-from-insulin-therapy-after-undergoing-diabetes-research-institutes-biohub-transplant-technique
Here is my laymen’s version of this medical breakthrough:
The Basics:
Type One Diabetes is an autoimmune disease that occurs when ones own immune system attacks its Beta Cells (these are the cells that make insulin. They are located in the pancreas and are part of a group of pancreatic cells or “islet cells” that are in charge of blood sugar regulation and a number of other tasks; see “Islets of Langerhans”).
Why I am excited:
This is exciting research that is actually working in a real, live human. Here is why it is different than other research out there, from my own understanding:
Two of the main obstacles to beta cell transplantation are 1.) Immune suppressing anti-rejection drugs are super harsh on the body and currently necessary for transplants and, 2.) Diabetes is an autoimmune disease, so the newly transplanted cells would likely be doomed from the get-go, meaning that it would only be a matter of time before the “cured” patient was once again killing their own beta cells and once again on supplemental insulin.
Are you with me so far?
The scientists at The Diabetes Research Institute have created a “BioHub”, this is a form of encapsulation, created to protect the islet cells from destruction at the hands of a diabetics wildly destructive immune system. Additionally they are using the Omentum, a fold of abdominal tissue that connects the stomach with other organs in the abdominal cavity. This is proving to be a more hospitable environment for the new cells to flourish as opposed to the liver, which is what has typically been used as the transplantation site. The people at The DIR are calling the “BioHub” a “bioengineered mini organ.” They also have two different "scaffolding" ideas that are being tested. One is biodegradable, using the enzyme, thrombin as used in the case of now insulin independent man in Europe, mentioned above, and the other is a small sponge-like silicone disc for the cells to hide and mature in.
Here is a picture of what it looks like and a link to The DIR, "BioHub" FAQ page if you want more info.
“One of the BioHub platforms in testing is a porous, sponge-like material. Thousands of islet cells (red) nestle within the small pores. Critical oxygen generators (blue), helper cells (yellow) and other agents can be added to a BioHub to keep islet cells healthy, protected and able to function long term.”
I’ll be honest, I am not one of those people who have ever believed in a cure. My mom does and I love her for that. She has faith for both of us and I am so glad. She and I are usually similarly cynical about many things, but she isn’t about this. She marches forward; in fact she is going to a meeting about this very technology next week. I am mostly trying not to get my hopes up. I have been pretty successful with that so far. But I have to say, this is the first technology that has actually piqued my imagination and tempted me to fantasize about the possibility of not pricking my finger between five and ten times per day, not wearing an external medical device twenty four hours a day, not injecting insulin every time I eat and not living in fear that every back ache might be kidney disease.
I really don’t know what I would do if that kind of freedom from life sustaining minutia was a reality for me. To say that it would change my life is an understatement. It would be overwhelming at first. I would probably cry a lot. And then I would go backpacking without worrying about how to keep my insulin vial cool or weighing my pack down with snacks for low blood sugar emergencies. Even if it was real, I would have a hard time believing it.
Check out this awesome info-graphic of the possibilities! Pictures are so helpful!
I’ll be honest, I am not one of those people who have ever believed in a cure. My mom does and I love her for that. She has faith for both of us and I am so glad. She and I are usually similarly cynical about many things, but she isn’t about this. She marches forward; in fact she is going to a meeting about this very technology next week. I am mostly trying not to get my hopes up. I have been pretty successful with that so far. But I have to say, this is the first technology that has actually piqued my imagination and tempted me to fantasize about the possibility of not pricking my finger between five and ten times per day, not wearing an external medical device twenty four hours a day, not injecting insulin every time I eat and not living in fear that every back ache might be kidney disease.
I really don’t know what I would do if that kind of freedom from life sustaining minutia was a reality for me. To say that it would change my life is an understatement. It would be overwhelming at first. I would probably cry a lot. And then I would go backpacking without worrying about how to keep my insulin vial cool or weighing my pack down with snacks for low blood sugar emergencies. Even if it was real, I would have a hard time believing it.
Check out this awesome info-graphic of the possibilities! Pictures are so helpful!