The use of stem cells in the treatment of diabetes
The use of stem cells in the treatment of diabetes
Fatemeh Aghazadeh,1,*Fatemeh Jabbari,2
1. Student research Center, Baharestan 1 Education Office, Baharestan 1, Tehran, Iran 2. Student Research Center, Education Office, Baharestan 1, Tehran, Iran
Introduction: Diabetes is a common endocrine disease. This disease requires frequent and constant measurement of blood sugar, insulin injection and restriction in diet. In addition to constant insulin injections, people with diabetes suffer from complications such as kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, vision problems, infection, etc., and treating the complications of this disease causes many problems for the affected person. Therefore, we have to find a permanent treatment for this disease. Stem cells have the ability to differentiate into cells of different tissues. Therefore, the use of stem cells has been suggested as a treatment methods for diabetes.
Methods: Various studies have shown that insulin-producing cells can be created and produced from stem cells extracted from bone marrow, fetal umbilical cord, and fat tissue. There are no ethical concerns about the use of these cells and it is expected that they will be used to treat many diseases in the coming years.
Results: Researchers were able to transform stem cells into insulin-producing beta cells and take an important step in the treatment of diabetes. New insulin-producing cells behave like normal beta cells in healthy people when exposed to glucose and show a quick and appropriate reaction. When these new cells were injected into diabetic mice, their blood sugar levels stabilized. Of course, it should be noted that this was only an experiment on animals.
Conclusion: Considering the increasing number of diabetes in the world and the complications it causes for the patient (vision problems, leg ulcers, etc.) and also the high treatment costs that diabetes imposes on the patient's family, stem cells can be a big step for treatment of this disease.