A groundbreaking discovery in diabetes treatment promises to revolutionize the way the condition is managed, with researchers successfully regenerating insulin-producing beta cells in humans. Published in Science Translational Medicine, this new approach could significantly change the landscape of diabetes therapy.
The study was spearheaded by a team of scientists from Mount Sinai Health System in New York and City of Hope in Los Angeles, marking a critical advancement in regenerative medicine.
The journey began in 2015 at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, under the leadership of Dr. Andrew F. Stewart. Over time, the project grew into a collaborative effort with key contributions from Dr. Adolfo Garcia-Ocaña, who continued the research at City of Hope, renowned for its expertise in diabetes and cancer.
Garcia-Ocaña and his team designed a series of experiments, utilizing animal transplant models and drug treatments. They incorporated beta cells from human donors and carried out controlled studies. By 2023, the final stages of the research took place at City of Hope, solidifying the findings and paving the way for future studies.
The breakthrough therapy combined harmine, a plant-derived compound, with GLP-1 receptor agonists—drugs commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes. This combination was tested by transplanting human beta cells into mice with suppressed immune systems, a standard method for diabetes research.
The results were extraordinary. The combination therapy reversed diabetes in the treated mice, and more remarkably, human beta cell numbers increased by 700% over a three-month period. This marks the first time scientists have successfully increased the number of adult human beta cells in a living organism.
“This is the first time scientists have developed a drug treatment proven to increase adult human beta cell numbers in vivo,” said Garcia-Ocaña. “This research brings hope for future regenerative therapies to potentially treat the hundreds of millions of people with diabetes.”
Dr. Stewart reflected on the long, collaborative effort that led to this breakthrough. “It has been remarkable to watch this story unfold over the past 15 years,” he said, acknowledging the role of physician-scientists in bridging academia and pharma. Along with Dr. Peng Wang, Stewart initiated the high-throughput drug screening process that led to the identification of harmine as a promising compound.
This pioneering research offers a beacon of hope for future regenerative therapies that may one day provide a solution for millions of people living with diabetes.
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