Embedded hope! Capsuled cells is new treatment
There is good news for diabetics. Researchers at the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, US, have joined hands to develop a new method in cell therapy in treating certain types of diabetes. This involves inserting a device called theracyte, which plays the role of an artificial pancreas, under the skin.
Theracyte is a capsule of pancreatic islet cells, which help produce insulin, and are transplanted under local anaesthesia. The five cm long and 1.3 cm wide capsule, or theracyte, will have lakhs of insulin producing islet cells that are gathered from the patients themselves or from cadavers. The tiny porous gaps in the capsule would not allow the cells to slip out but allow flow of insulin produced from these cells into the body and oxygen and other nutrients the cells need to survive and energy into the cells.
"The device is poised to be a health booster for diabetics. Placing the theracyte device under the skin is akin to and as simple as inserting a SIM card into a mobile phone," explained AIG chairman Dr. D. Nageshwar Reddy. Initially, the procedure will cost about Rs.Two lakhs as doctors have to rely on the device that has been developed by a San Francisco firm.
What doctors at AIG have done is to isolate and culture human pancreatic islets, put the islets in the capsule and place it under the skin. By their work islet transplantation has come of age. Theirs is a less cumbersome than the existing pancreatic islet transplantation process. The AIG technique is also less expensive as patients with the theracyte capsule do not have to take immuno - suppressants, after islet cell transplantation, as a safeguard against its rejection.
Pancreatic islet transplantation is emerging as an attractive option of cell based therapy in the treatment of type 1 diabetes and type 3C diabetes, as the islets are capable of responding to physiological needs of the body. Islet cell transplantation, generally involving injection of islets into portal veins, is advantageous over exogenous insulin therapy, oral hypoglycemic and insulin pumps.
In the established process, islet cells are taken from the pancreas of a deceased or living donor, and are injected into the liver of diabetic patients - and these islets begin to produce and release insulin, which lets Type 1 diabetic patients live without their daily insulin injections. However, when islets are used from a donor, the patient's body may reject it for which immunosuppressant drugs are used. This process of islet transplantation is currently available at a few specialized facilities in Europe and America and not in India.
In type 3 diabetes, once the pancreas stops working, the patient undergoes severe pain and has to take painkillers. "For them, islet transplantation will definitely work. We remove the pancreas and transplant islets only back. Since there is no pancreas, the patient will just have to take drugs for that which is in no way harmful," explained Dr. Ashok K. Saluja of the University of Minnesota.
With about 285 million people worldwide, including 62.4 million in India, afflicted by diabetes, pancreatic islet transplantation is clearly an important option in the treatment of type - 1 and type - 3 C diabetes. "Pancreatic islets transplantation can let diabetics live without using insulin injections for about three to five years depending on the patient. The main problem with this process was immuno - rejection which can be solved using theracyte implantation," said Reddy.
The AIG process holds greater promise that what is currently available around the world. However, the issue in islet transplantation is the perennial dearth of donors. Recovering it from cadavers is far from becoming popular. The challenge is in collecting pancreas from donors just as in the harvesting of other organs like the liver and kidneys. Reddy points that it will be needed for islet cells in treatment and in further research.
There is good news for diabetics. Researchers at the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, US, have joined hands to develop a new method in cell therapy in treating certain types of diabetes. This involves inserting a device called theracyte, which plays the role of an artificial pancreas, under the skin.Theracyte is a capsule of pancreatic islet cells, which help produce insulin, and are transplanted under local anaesthesia. The five cm long and 1.3 cm wide capsule, or theracyte, will have lakhs of insulin producing islet cells that are gathered from the patients themselves or from cadavers. The tiny porous gaps in the capsule would not allow the cells to slip out but allow flow of insulin produced from these cells into the body and oxygen and other nutrients the cells need to survive and energy into the cells.
"The device is poised to be a health booster for diabetics. Placing the theracyte device under the skin is akin to and as simple as inserting a SIM card into a mobile phone," explained AIG chairman Dr. D. Nageshwar Reddy. Initially, the procedure will cost about Rs.Two lakhs as doctors have to rely on the device that has been developed by a San Francisco firm.
What doctors at AIG have done is to isolate and culture human pancreatic islets, put the islets in the capsule and place it under the skin. By their work islet transplantation has come of age. Theirs is a less cumbersome than the existing pancreatic islet transplantation process. The AIG technique is also less expensive as patients with the theracyte capsule do not have to take immuno - suppressants, after islet cell transplantation, as a safeguard against its rejection.
Pancreatic islet transplantation is emerging as an attractive option of cell based therapy in the treatment of type 1 diabetes and type 3C diabetes, as the islets are capable of responding to physiological needs of the body. Islet cell transplantation, generally involving injection of islets into portal veins, is advantageous over exogenous insulin therapy, oral hypoglycemic and insulin pumps.
In the established process, islet cells are taken from the pancreas of a deceased or living donor, and are injected into the liver of diabetic patients - and these islets begin to produce and release insulin, which lets Type 1 diabetic patients live without their daily insulin injections. However, when islets are used from a donor, the patient's body may reject it for which immunosuppressant drugs are used. This process of islet transplantation is currently available at a few specialized facilities in Europe and America and not in India.
In type 3 diabetes, once the pancreas stops working, the patient undergoes severe pain and has to take painkillers. "For them, islet transplantation will definitely work. We remove the pancreas and transplant islets only back. Since there is no pancreas, the patient will just have to take drugs for that which is in no way harmful," explained Dr. Ashok K. Saluja of the University of Minnesota.
With about 285 million people worldwide, including 62.4 million in India, afflicted by diabetes, pancreatic islet transplantation is clearly an important option in the treatment of type - 1 and type - 3 C diabetes. "Pancreatic islets transplantation can let diabetics live without using insulin injections for about three to five years depending on the patient. The main problem with this process was immuno - rejection which can be solved using theracyte implantation," said Reddy.
The AIG process holds greater promise that what is currently available around the world. However, the issue in islet transplantation is the perennial dearth of donors. Recovering it from cadavers is far from becoming popular. The challenge is in collecting pancreas from donors just as in the harvesting of other organs like the liver and kidneys. Reddy points that it will be needed for islet cells in treatment and in further research.
Are there any testimonials?
ReplyDeleteWhat are the most recent updates in theracyte transplant?
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