The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation said today it is backing a 3 year study conducted by researchers at the University of Toronto to improve islet transplantation and make the procedure available for patients with type 1 diabetes.
The research group was awarded $845,135 ($1.1 million Canadian) to evaluate if transplanting islet cells under the skin will improve the cells’ survival.
Current sites for islet transplantation include the abdominal cavity and the liver, which are “hostile” environments for the cells and can increase the likelihood of cell rejection.
The skin, according to the researchers, is a less hostile site and is far more clinically accessible than the abdominal cavity or the liver. The team plans to create an environment rich in blood vessels underneath the skin to make up for the fact that the skin itself has relatively few blood vessels. They hope that the “pre-vascularized” environment will ensure that the insulin-producing cells will survive the transplantation.
“The goal is to enable islet cell transplantation under the skin in a retrievable, ‘device-less’ physiologically integrated and scalable implant site,” lead researcher & engineering professor Michael Sefton said in prepared remarks. “The goal of this strategy is better control of blood glucose and reduced complications, and most importantly, a more widely available treatment for those living with this disease.”
“Islet transplantation is a promising approach to treatment that also minimizes the risk of serious complications that affect those who live with T1D,” president & CEO of JDRF Canada Dave Prowten added. “We are proud to support Dr. Sefton and his team as they work to uncover new ways to make this treatment more readily available for people living with T1D.”
In September, JDRF said it will give $2.45 million to support Canadian-based drug device maker Sernova Inc. as it embarks on a clinical trial to evaluate it’s cell pouch system as a therapy for hypoglycemia unawareness patients with severe type 1 diabetes.
