Читать книгу The SAGE Encyclopedia of Stem Cell Research - Группа авторов - Страница 392

The potential development of an effective vaccine or the use of stem cells to grow beta cells capable of making insulin are part of an array of promising lines of research intended to advance diabetes treatment. A number of novel devices are currently under way to better control blood sugar levels. In terms of vaccines, British scientists reported the existence of a well-known virus that could trigger type 1 diabetes by attacking insulin-making beta cells and triggering an infection. The underlying reasoning is that, if such process proves to be effective, it is highly possible that the individual’s immune response may not be able, in the end, to produce insulin. Based on this assumption, a vaccine with the ability to block infection by a virus might also be able to prevent diabetes from developing. In the United States, some Harvard University researchers have suggested that a widely used tuberculosis vaccine could treat type 1 diabetes by acting on the person’s immune response to kill beta cells. In current studies, type 1 diabetic mice started to produce insulin following treatment with the vaccine.

As for glucagon, which is produced in the pancreas and released when blood sugar levels are too low, a recent study stated that “suppressing the action of glucagon made insulin unnecessary to control blood sugar levels.” These results could suggest that if the action of glucagon is blocked, normal glucose tolerance might be restored.

Morenike Trenou

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See Also: Adult Stem Cells: Overview; Clinical Trials Outside the United States; Hematopoietic Transplantation: Gene Therapy.