Experimental cell therapy in type I diabetes

Abstract

Background: Type 1 diabetes is a multisystem disease with both biochemical and anatomical consequences. It is a chronic disease of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism caused by the lack of insulin, resulting in marked and progressive inability of the pancreas to secrete it because of the autoimmune destruction of beta cells. Diabetes is a widespread disease in the world, reaching a population of 371 million in 2012, of which 5-15% are type I diabetics, most of them children and young people. Cell therapy is a new direction in the treatment of this type of diabetes. Materials and Methods: This experimental study tried using umbilical stem cells and pancreatic cells for the treatment of alloxan induced diabetes in rats. The research was conducted in the Laboratory of Tissue Engineering and Cellular Culture at the State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemitanu". The method of extraction of the pancreatic beta cells was developed, then the pancreatic cells were grown, and their ability to produce insulin was rated. The cryopreserved umbilical cells had a viability, which was 91.2 ± 1.8%. The suspension of pancreatic cells and umbilical cells was inoculated intraperitonealy in rats with alloxanic diabetes. Results: It was determined that the in vivo inoculation of umbilical cord blood stem cells and allogeneic pancreatic beta cells normalizes the glucose level in animals with experimental induced type I diabetes, and the animals treated with pancreatic cells had lower blood glucose levels than those treated with umbilical cord blood cells..