Posted on 03/03/2007 6:22:52 PM PST by Coleus
A treatment for type 1 diabetes that involves injecting pig cells into human patients is about to be trialled in Russia. The researchers say the treatment could provide a much cheaper, more accessible alternative to human cell transplants, but concerns about xeno-transplantation remain an issue. In people with type 1 diabetes, the islet cells of the pancreas do not produce enough insulin to regulate blood glucose effectively. The standard treatment is insulin injections. Transplants of human islet cells are being carried out, but there is a shortage of donors and the procedure can cost $300,000 per patient. Patients also have to take immuno-suppressant drugs for life, which can cause unpleasant side effects.
Living Cell Technologies (LCT), based in New Zealand, is extracting neonatal islet cells from pigs specially bred to be free from common viruses, bacteria and parasites. These pig cells are then coated in alginate, a derivative of seaweed, which allows glucose, insulin and oxygen to pass through, but blocks antibodies. As a result, and in theory, patients should not need to take immuno-suppressants. Treatment could cost an estimated US$25,000 per patient, says Paul Tan, CEO of LCT. “This is a very reasonable line of investigation,” says Maarten Kamp, a diabetes expert at the Gold Coast Hospital in Southport, Queensland, Australia. “Certainly, there isn’t going to be enough human pancreatic tissue available for transplantation.”
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
I see that this will be a big hit in the middle east.
Or better yet a label saying; May have adverse effect upon Muslims.
Some types of insulin come from pigs.
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