- A third of type 1 diabetes patients will eventually need a new kidney
- It may help to inject special cells from a donor’s pancreas into the patient’s liver
Implanting donor pancreatic cells into the livers of patients with type 1 diabetes could help them live longer, a study has found.
A trial of the surgery, led by French scientists, has shown promising results for type 1 diabetics undergoing kidney transplants.
About a third of people with type 1 diabetes will eventually need a new kidney because the high blood sugar levels caused by the disease damage the blood vessels in the organs. And many patients who undergo a transplant will experience kidney failure again within a few years.
But data shows that an innovative procedure – islet transplantation – can extend the time patients live without further complications after a kidney transplant.
A third of type 1 diabetes patients will eventually need a kidney transplant because of the damage caused by the disease
A new technique in which special cells from a donor’s pancreas are injected into the liver of a kidney transplant patient could extend the life of the new organ
In this technique, special cells called islet cells are taken from a donor’s pancreas.
These cells produce insulin, the hormone that keeps blood sugars stable.
The pancreas is a leaf-shaped gland near the liver. For reasons that are not yet fully understood, in type 1 diabetics the immune system attacks the gland, causing it to fail.
In this procedure, the islet cells are transferred via a catheter into the liver of the diabetic patient at the same time as the kidney transplant. The liver is the site of choice because it has a unique property called immune privilege. An immune response is less likely to occur compared to other organs when foreign tissues or cells are transplanted into them.
The new study, presented today at the European Society for Organ Transplantation Congress, examined 330 patients who had undergone a kidney transplant.
They found that patients who had an islet transplant were more than 50 percent less likely to develop kidney failure, compared with those who did not receive the treatment, and lived an average of a year longer.
The researchers from the University of Lille also found that the patients who had an islet transplant were 70 percent less likely to need regular insulin to control their blood sugar levels.
Despite 400,000 Britons living with type 1 diabetes, NHS figures show that only 40 islet transplants are carried out each year.
Nephrologist and study author Dr. Mehdi Maanaoui said: ‘We hope our findings will help increase access to islet transplantation.’