First patient cured of type 2 diabetes with cell transplant in China

The first patient in the world has been cured of type 2 diabetes. Scientists in China transplanted pancreatic cells responsible for insulin production.

According to the World Health Organisation, approximately 422 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes. The more common of the two forms of this disease is type 2 diabetes, which usually appears in adults and occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or does not produce enough insulin. This form of the disease has been successfully treated for the first time by researchers in China.

Chinese scientists treat a patient using breakthrough cell therapy. A 59-year-old man with type 2 diabetes, who needed many insulin injections daily, received an innovative cell transplant. This pioneering treatment was developed by a team from Shanghai Changzheng Hospital and Renji Hospital within the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It was detailed in the scientific journal "Nature" on 30 April.

According to the "South China Morning Post", the patient underwent a pancreatic cell transplant in July 2021. Within eleven weeks, he no longer needed to take insulin injections. Over the next year, he gradually reduced his doses and eventually stopped taking oral medications to control blood sugar levels. "Follow-up studies showed that the patient's islet function was effectively restored," said Dr Hao Yin, one of the lead scientists in the study. The patient has not taken insulin for approximately 33 months.

The new therapy involves programming the patient's peripheral blood mononuclear cells to regenerate pancreatic islet tissue responsible for insulin production. This approach, which harnesses the body's regenerative capabilities, is an innovative and emerging field called regenerative medicine.

Prof. Timothy Kieffer from Columbia University, who was not involved in the Chinese studies, commented that cell therapy "can free patients from the burden of constantly taking medications, improve health and quality of life, and also reduce healthcare expenses." However, he emphasised the need for further studies involving a larger number of patients to confirm these promising results.