Dutch researchers make breakthrough that could cure type 1 diabetes

Researchers in Leiden have reported promising results from a clinical study using lab-grown, insulin-producing cells to treat type 1 diabetes. 

Innovative research in the Netherlands for diabetes treatment

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body destroys its own insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Around 120.000 people in the Netherlands suffer from the condition and have an increased risk of eye, kidney, heart and blood vessel disorders, reports NOS.

Most people who have type 1 diabetes are able to keep their blood sugar levels in check with medication, while others with more complicated cases need a pancreas transplant or a transplant of islet cells, the insulin-producing cells found in the pancreas. However, a donor shortage means that only a select few can have islet transplants. 

Researchers at the Leiden University Medical Centre have developed a solution: growing the islets themselves. A clinical trial using laboratory-grown islet cells, which are generated from pluripotent stem cells that can develop into any cell in the body, showed that patients with severe type 1 diabetes were cured of the illness a year after the cells were transplanted.

New research centre in Leiden dedicated to diabetes cure

"The real breakthrough is that islets made from stem cells in a laboratory can functionally cure diabetes," said Eelco de Koning, physician and professor of diabetology at Leiden University Medical Centre. "This indicates that an unlimited supply of islets may be available for treatment in the future." While the preliminary results are promising, further research is needed before the treatment becomes a staple in healthcare.

To continue the research, a new centre called Cure One will open in Leiden with the financial support of the Dutch Diabetes Research Foundation. The primary objective of the research centre is to develop a method for making treatment accessible to all patients with type 1 diabetes. 

"Currently, recipients of islets from deceased donors, or islets from stem cells as in the published study, must take immunosuppressive medication for the rest of their lives to prevent their bodies from rejecting the cells," explained De Koning. Further research will work on modifying the cells so that the immune system does not attack the cells. 

"This could also be achieved by first generating stem cells from people with type 1 diabetes themselves and then culturing 'our own' islets from them," he said. "By concentrating all our expertise in Cure One, we will do everything we can to ensure that the next breakthrough follows quickly."