A role for islet neogenesis in curing diabetes
Posted on 11/18/2011
Endogenous insulin deficiency is the tie that binds all forms of diabetes. Definitive treatment or cure of type 1 and type 2 diabetes cannot occur without a durable reversal of relative or absolute endogenous insulin deficiency. Current efforts to restore physiological insulin secretion include (1) islet or pancreas transplant; (2) exogenous cell therapies, including differentiation of bone marrow cells and embryonic stem cells (ESCs); and (3) islet regeneration from endogenous pancreatic cells.
Although they would represent advances, islet or beta cell transplant [1, 2], the artificial pancreas [3, 4], gene therapy [5], and even stem cell therapy [6, 7] cannot be considered restorative approaches unless the results are durable and have an acceptable safety profile.
**G. L. Pittenger & D. Taylor-Fishwick & A. I. Vinik
Diabetologia (2009) 52:735–738
DOI 10.1007/s00125-009-1322-y
