B. ISLET AND STEM CELL THERAPY Flashcards
problems with T1DM insulin therapy
doesn’t eliminate long complications:
- retinal damage
- diabetic foot ulcers
- costly
what are the 3 strategies to regenerate beta-cell function
- organ transplants
- islet transplants
- stem cell therapies
organ transplants
- rarely performed as shortage of organs/donors
- need to be tissue compatible so no risk of rejection and in perfectly good use
- morbidity associated with surgery as its very long
- risks associated with long-term immune suppression (infection, malignancy, bone disease, CVD)
- reserved for end-stage renal failure patients requiring a kidney and pancreas transplantation
Islet of Langerhans transplantation
- isolated islet cells from donor tissue engrafted into liver (done on NHS)
- or insulin producing beta-cells
what is the protocol for islet transplantation
The Edmonton Protocol
- collagenase in pancreas releases intact islet cells
- the islets are purified and injected through a percutaneous catheter into portal vein of liver
- can produce insulin
what is required for the islet transplantation
- islet cells purified from donor organ
- perfused into liver under local anaesthetic
- immunosuppression required: 5 doses of Daclizumab at 1mg/kg IV over 8 weeks followed by maintenance on Tacrolimus
what was the outcome of the Edmonton protocol
- initially poor success rates
- clinical trial primary end-point defined as insulin independence at 1 year
- 44% of patients met primary endpoint
- 76% required insulin therapy within 2
years
when and for who are islet transplants performed
- available on NHS since 2008 but only 152 procedures from 2008-2015
- sometimes offered to T1DM patients who suffer regular hypos
- they often have poor hypoglycaemic awareness (will have seizures and collapse)
- more likely in patients on long-term insulin treatment
benefits of islet transplants
- reduced frequency of hypos
- improved awareness of hypo symptoms
- normally functional for 6-10 years
- patients continue to need low dose insulin therapy
who is islet transplants not suitable for
- weight>85kg
- poor kidney function
- requires >50 units insulin daily
risks of islet transplants
- infection from procedure
- small increased cancer risk
- rejection of transplant
what are the three main types of stem cells
- embryonic stem cells (pluripotent)
- adult stem cells (multipotent)
- induced pluripotent stem cells
what are pluripotent stem cells
- cells that divide (self-renew) indefinitely and can potentially differentiate into the 3 primary germ layers (ie: endoderm, mesoderm, ectoderm) and hence all other cell types in body
- no lifespan
what are pluripotent stem cells currently used for
- cornea regeneration
- skin repair
- bone repair etc
- bone marrow blood cells
embryonic stem cells
- pluripotent: can form all cells of body
- self-renewal or differentiation
- expression of specific gene networks (response to environmental signals) determines self-renewal (stem-cell) or differentiation
- there are certain TFs in stem cells which can activate stem cell genes to keep it as a stem cell
- when it differentiates, those TFs are suppressed and others come in and activate differentiated cell gene expression programmes