thebestnest5
01-24-2007, 11:02 AM
Mom's Stem Cells Might Treat Child's Diabetes
http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/news-29369-31.html
Mom's Stem Cells Might Treat Child's Diabetes
MONDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Cells passed from a mother to child
during pregnancy can grow into functioning pancreatic cells that produce
insulin in the child, U.S. scientists report.
The scientists also found that children and young adults with type 1
diabetes had higher levels of maternal DNA in their blood than siblings or
unrelated people without diabetes. This suggests an attempt to repair
damaged tissue.
The findings suggest that it may be possible to harvest a mother's stem
cells in order to treat her diabetic child.
Type 1 diabetes is an inherited form of the disease where individuals do not
have enough functioning pancreatic islet cells needed to produce insulin.
The findings, published in the Jan. 22 issue of the journal *Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences*, may help in the development of new
treatments for type 1 diabetes, say researchers at the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
They said they found no evidence that the mother's cells were attacking the
child's insulin cells or that the maternal cells were being attacked by the
child's immune system.
"We think the maternal cells may be helping to regenerate damaged tissue in
the (child's) pancreas," Dr. J. Lee Nelson, a member of the clinical
research division at Hutchinson, said in a prepared statement.
http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/news-29369-31.html
Mom's Stem Cells Might Treat Child's Diabetes
MONDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Cells passed from a mother to child
during pregnancy can grow into functioning pancreatic cells that produce
insulin in the child, U.S. scientists report.
The scientists also found that children and young adults with type 1
diabetes had higher levels of maternal DNA in their blood than siblings or
unrelated people without diabetes. This suggests an attempt to repair
damaged tissue.
The findings suggest that it may be possible to harvest a mother's stem
cells in order to treat her diabetic child.
Type 1 diabetes is an inherited form of the disease where individuals do not
have enough functioning pancreatic islet cells needed to produce insulin.
The findings, published in the Jan. 22 issue of the journal *Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences*, may help in the development of new
treatments for type 1 diabetes, say researchers at the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
They said they found no evidence that the mother's cells were attacking the
child's insulin cells or that the maternal cells were being attacked by the
child's immune system.
"We think the maternal cells may be helping to regenerate damaged tissue in
the (child's) pancreas," Dr. J. Lee Nelson, a member of the clinical
research division at Hutchinson, said in a prepared statement.