Daibetes and Stem Cells Treatment...!!

FIG 1: Development of Insulin-Secreting Pancreatic-Like Cells From Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells.Mouse embryonic stem cells were derived from the inner cell mass of the early embryo (blastocyst) and cultured under specific conditions. The embryonic stem cells (in blue) were then expanded and differentiated. Cells with markers consistent with islet cells were selected for further differentiation and characterization. When these cells (in purple) were grown in culture, they spontaneously formed three-dimentional clusters similar in structure to normal pancreatic islets. The cells produced and secreted insulin. As depicted in the chart, the pancreatic islet-like cells showed an increase in release of insulin as the glucose concentration of the culture media was increased. When the pancreatic islet-like cells were implanted in the shoulder of diabetic mice, the cells became vascularized, synthesized insulin, and maintained physical characteristics similar to pancreatic islets.


Daibetes and Stem Cells Treatment::

Diabetes is actually a group of diseases characterized by abnormally high levels of the sugar glucose in the bloodstream. This excess glucose is responsible for most of the complications of diabetes, which include blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke, neuropathy, and amputations. Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile-onset diabetes, typically affects children and young adults. Diabetes develops when the body's immune system sees its own cells as foreign and attacks and destroys them. As a result, the islet cells of the pancreas, which normally produce insulin, are destroyed. In the absence of insulin, glucose cannot enter the cell and glucose accumulates in the blood. Type 2 diabetes, also called adult-onset diabetes, tends to affect older, sedentary, and overweight individuals with a family history of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body cannot use insulin effectively. This is called insulin resistance and the result is the same as with type 1 diabetes—a build up of glucose in the blood

Development of Cell-Based Therapies for DiabeteS:


There is currently no cure for diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes must take insulin several times a day and test their blood glucose concentration three to four times a day throughout their entire lives. People with type 2 diabetes can often control their blood glucose concentrations through a combination of diet, exercise, and oral medication.

In developing a potential therapy for patients with diabetes, researchers hope to develop a system that meets several criteria. Ideally, stem cells should be able to multiply in culture and reproduce themselves exactly. That is, the cells should be self-renewing.Stem cells should also be able to differentiate in vivo to produce the desired kind of cell. For diabetes therapy, it is not clear whether it will be desirable to produce only beta cells—the islet cells that manufacture insulin—or whether other types of pancreatic islet cells are also necessary.
Recent studies in mice show that embryonic stem cells can be coaxed into differentiating into insulin-producing beta cells, and new reports indicate that this strategy may be possible using human embryonic cells as well.

In theory, embryonic stem cells could be cultivated and coaxed into developing into the insulin-producing islet cells of the pancreas. With a ready supply of cultured stem cells at hand, the theory is that a line of embryonic stem cells could be grown up as needed for anyone requiring a transplant. The cells could be engineered to avoid immune rejection. Before transplantation, they could be placed into nonimmunogenic material so that they would not be rejected and the patient would avoid the devastating effects of immunosuppressant drugs. There is also some evidence that differentiated cells derived from embryonic stem cells might be less likely to cause immune rejection (see Chapter 10. Assessing Human Stem Cell Safety). Although having a replenishable supply of insulin-producing cells for transplant into humans may be a long way off, researchers have been making remarkable progress in their quest for it.


PGI Chandigarh and Daibetes type-2 treatment::

In a path-breaking research, PGI doctors have reportedly found a very effective solution for diabetes type 2 through stem cell transplantation technique.
In this technique, bone marrow is taken from the hip bone of the patient. The stem cells are isolated from the bone marrow after the purification process in a laboratory. An injection of stem cell is prepared which is injected into the blood vessel of the patient that supplies blood to the pancreas, the organ producing insulin.
After the injection is given to the patient he is monitored for the affect of the therapy for around six months. This therapy is preferred over the current treatment to rejuvenate the beta cell mass while the islet transplantation is losing the favour because of non-availability of cadaver pancreas and loss of functional mass after sometime.

Contact detail of PGIMER, Chandigarh:

Dr. Meenu Singh
Officer-Incharge Website
PGIMER,Sector-12, Chandigarh,Pin- 160 012, India
Phone: EPBAX: 0091-172-2746018 ,2756565,2747585, Fax: 0091-172-2744401, 2745078
Email: pgimer-chd@nic.in

Neurodegenrative Diseases and Stem Cells Therapy: "Alzheimer's Disease"

Neurodegeneration is the umbrella term for the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, including death of neurons. Many neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s occur as a result of neurodegenerative processes.

Alzheimer's Disease and Stem Cell Therapy:

Alzheimer's disease is characterised by loss of neurons and synapses in the cerebral cortex and certain subcortical regions. This loss results in gross atrophy of the affected regions, including degeneration in the temporal lobe and parietal lobe, and parts of the frontal cortex and cingulate gyrus
Alzheimer's disease has been identified as a protein misfolding disease (proteopathy), caused by accumulation of abnormally folded A-beta and tau proteins in the brain. Plaques are made up of small peptides, 39–43 amino acids in length, called beta-amyloid (also written as A-beta or Aβ). Beta-amyloid is a fragment from a larger protein called amyloid precursor protein (APP), a transmembrane protein that penetrates through the neuron's membrane. APP is critical to neuron growth, survival and post-injury repair. In Alzheimer's disease, an unknown process causes APP to be divided into smaller fragments by enzymes through proteolysis.One of these fragments gives rise to fibrils of beta-amyloid, which form clumps that deposit outside neurons in dense formations known as senile plaques.

• Stem cell research does offer hope for a number of diseases including Alzheimer's. Treatment success will depend on a number of factors, among them:
• The ability to understand more about normal cell development
• The ability to correct errors and damage to diseased and abnormal cells
• The ability to understand the process by which stem cells transform into other cell types
• The ability to make sure any stem cell treatments are safe
We have to find out the cause and processes by which Alzheimer's affects the brain and neurological system. At present the cause and progress of Alzheimer's disease is not fully understood. Whether stem cell treatment will be able to target Alzheimer's primary cause or if, (and more difficult) it can treat more global disease with a more diffuse pattern of damage is the unknown factor in treating Alzheimer's

Neurodegenrative Diseases and Stem Cells Therapy: "Parkinson's Disease"

Neurodegeneration is the umbrella term for the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, including death of neurons. Many neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s occur as a result of neurodegenerative processes.

Parkinson's Disease and Stem cells Therapy:

Parkinson's disease is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative condition characterized initially by muscle rigidity, tremors, and the slowing of movement. Over time, patients sustain a loss of mobility and experience difficulties with posture, speech and cognition. It is generally agreed that the decline of a particular brain cell called the dopamine neuron (or dopamine cell) is involved. Current drug therapies are useful in early stages but become less effective as the disease progresses. Dopamine cell transplantation has offered some success in the treatment of Parkinson's but is limited by the small amount of tissue available for transplant.
Recently it has been shown that human embryonic stem cells can be transformed into dopamine cells, when treated with a cocktail of growth factors. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that possess the ability to divide for indefinite periods in culture, giving rise to a specific specialized cell, such as dopamine. Human embryonic stem cells may one day provide an inexhaustible supply of such cells. However, their usefulness for transplant therapy depends on their exhibiting the normal properties of dopamine cells, most importantly the ability to produce and release dopamine when transplanted into the brain.