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A century after Canadian scientists discovered the life-changing treatment for diabetes, insulin in 1921, Edmonton researchers are advancing an implant that could effectively cure the disease.
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Two University of Alberta researchers spoke to Postmedia about their cutting-edge research since November Diabetes awareness month . Lead researchers Greg Korbutt and Andrew Pepper are developing an implant to place under the skin that they hope will work as a functional cure for the disease. This includes both cells to help regulate insulin and anti-rejection drugs to make sure your body accepts the treatment.
“We have extremely encouraging results in mice and insulin-producing cell transplants in pigs,” Korbutt said. “For me, it’s good to know that the research we do can really benefit patients.”
Korbutt, scientific director of the university’s cell therapy manufacturing facility in Alberta, was part of a team that developed the groundbreaking treatment for diabetes in 2000 called the Edmonton Protocol. This procedure transplants insulin-producing cells into the liver of a patient with type 1 diabetes and protects him from slipping into a diabetic coma.
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However, these transplant patients must also take anti-rejection medications for the rest of their lives. This creates another set of risks, so the benefits of treatment only outweigh the risks for patients with the most severe cases.
But by using an implant, with transplanted cells and anti-rejection drugs together placed just under the skin, the researchers hope that more patients can safely benefit without the added risks of the lifelong drug regimen.
Pepper says they are getting closer to the solution and hopes the finish line is in sight.
“It is gratifying to know that there is hope, I think that not only for patients but also for researchers and researchers who are trying to address this problem, it does not seem insurmountable.”
Korbutt and Pepper, along with other local experts, participate in a Virtual seminar Defeating Diabetes presented by the U of A, the Alberta Diabetes Foundation and the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation Canada.
Reference-edmontonjournal.com