Type 1 diabetes (T1D) results from the destruction of insulin-secreting beta cells by the immune system. As a result, T1D patients depend on insulin injections to maintain their blood glucose levels. A study presented at the annual meeting of Endocrine Society , USA , has shown that a newly developed stem cell therapy device, called PEC-Direct, can produce insulin and control blood glucose levels in high-risk T1D patients .
PEC-Direct is a pouch containing pancreatic progenitor cells that mature into pancreatic cells and produce insulin. The device also allows direct vascularization of the implanted cells through its membrane, allowing for robust engraftment. The study conducted on ten adult T1D patients demonstrated that the implanted PEC-Direct increased the levels of C-peptide, a polypeptide that connects alpha and beta chains of proinsulin, and decreased the levels of HbA1C by…
