emirates7 - Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and KTH Royal Institute of Technology have developed an improved method for creating insulin-producing cells from human stem cells.

The results, published in Stem Cell Reports, demonstrate that these cells effectively regulate blood sugar levels in laboratory tests and can reverse diabetes in mice.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, meaning the body can no longer absorb glucose from the blood and regulate blood sugar levels. One possible treatment is to replace these cells with new ones. However, previous methods of producing such cells from stem cells have often yielded mixed results.

The optimised production process yields more mature and purer insulin-producing cells than previous methods. In a laboratory setting, the cells were able to secrete insulin and responded strongly to glucose.

When the researchers transplanted these cells into diabetic mice, the animals gradually regained the ability to regulate their blood sugar. The transplantation was performed in the anterior chamber of the eye.