Diabetes: researchers restore insulin production

In France alone, more than 3.5 million people are treated for diabetes, a chronic disease characterized by hyperglycaemia and linked to a deficiency in the secretion or action of insulin. In this context, scientists from Monash University in Australia have attempted to “reactivate” pancreatic cells to boost the natural production of insulin.

Boosting insulin production with stem cells

To test their hypothesis that insulin-producing cells (beta cells) could be replaced by insulin-producing cells, the researchers used pancreatic stem cells from type 1 diabetic donors.

They were able to effectively reactivate them to become insulin-producing cells and functionally resemble beta-like cells through the use of a drug approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, but not currently licensed for the treatment of diabetes.

Although it requires further work, the new approach would in principle replace the insulin-producing cells (beta cells) that are destroyed in type 1 diabetics with insulin-producing cells.

These early works therefore show “a possible restoration of the insulin gene, providing distinct evidence for beta-cell regeneration and possibly neogenesis”.

Although additional trials are needed to confirm these initial results, this new approach could make it possible, in people with diabetes, to replace the insulin that is no longer produced by the diseased pancreas.

The role of insulin

Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar. It is secreted by the pancreas (and more precisely by cells of the islets of Langerhans) following an increase in the level of sugar in the blood.

It is therefore insulin that allows glucose to enter the body’s cells and “nourish” the body’s tissues (muscles, fatty tissues, etc.).

It also stimulates the synthesis of lipids in fatty tissues. The “released” glucose is in fact either consumed directly by the body, or “stored” in fat reserves.

Insulin therefore plays an essential “regulator” role in the body.