American biotechnology firm SymbioCellTech (SCT) has developed a sophisticated technology that transplants islet cells extracted from a donor into the liver and does not require anti-rejection drugs. The trial was conducted in rats and is published in the June issue of Stem Cells Journal.

The technology addresses a major problem with islet cell transplantation which is that five donors are often required for just one person. Immuno-suppressant drugs to be administered also can cause patients problems, as suppressing the immune system raises the risk of infection.

This natural encapsulation method involves combining mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) together with pancreatic islet cells to create neo-islets (NI), which are three-dimensional cellular clusters. These structures carry out the functions of pancreatic islet cells and also shield against rejection and autoimmune attack. The result is that one dose can provide "durable blood sugar control", according to the researchers behind this trial, who found that within "a few weeks, all treated mice demonstrated normal blood glucose control without the need for anti-rejection drugs or encapsulation devices".

SCT is now working on a research study to see if the technique works on dogs with type 1 diabetes and is also starting a clinical trial to test it in humans.

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