Miami, FL (January 9, 2009) — The growing epidemic of diabetes in the United States is making it crucial for scientists to find new ways to treat the debilitating disease and its numerous complications. Researchers at the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have launched an FDA-approved clinical trial to test a novel protocol involving stem cells and oxygen therapy that showed promise in an earlier pilot study.
In type 2 diabetes, the insulin that is produced by the beta cells in the pancreas does not work properly in the body because of insulin resistance or decreased sensitivity to the action of insulin, often combined with a reduced secretion of insulin by the pancreas. In contrast, in type 1 diabetes almost all of the beta cells have been destroyed and generally no insulin is produced.
“Using a patient’s own stem cells together with oxygen therapies to aid in this recovery has shown promise in pilot clinical trials in patients with type 2 diabetes,” explains Camillo Ricordi, M.D., scientific director of the DRI and head of an international collaborative effort together with Esteban Estrada, M.D., from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to test this regenerative medicine strategy. “If we confirm that this approach helps regenerate the insulin-producing cells, this could lead to novel strategies for the treatment of type 1 diabetes as well.”
Researchers will be recruiting patients between the ages of 45 and 65 who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after age 40 and have had the disease for more than five but less than 15 years.
The trial participants will be randomized to either standard drug treatment for type 2 diabetes, or to undergo a series of treatments in a hyperbaric chamber at the University of Miami Hospital. During the treatment in a pressurized chamber the patient will be breathing 100 percent oxygen. Among other effects, it’s believed the high oxygen levels release stem cells from the bone marrow and allow them to circulate through the entire body.
“After 10 oxygen treatments, we will do a bone marrow tap and prepare the cells for re-infusion directly into the pancreas,” explains Rodolfo Alejandro, M.D., professor of medicine and director of the clinical islet cell program at the DRI. “Basically we are taking a two-pronged approach: allow more stem cells to be released into the body through the oxygen treatments, and then infuse the stem cells directly into the pancreas.”
Following the infusion, the patients will receive an additional 10 treatments in the hyperbaric chamber.
“Applying this combined approach we will determine whether the combination of hyperbaric oxygen treatment and stem cell infusion can help the pancreas to either recover or function well enough to allow patients to significantly decrease or stop their medications,” said Alejandro. “This intervention could alter the disease process in type 2 diabetes, giving the pancreas a chance to recover and possibly regenerate.”
“Similar trials will take place in Europe, Asia, and Latin America as part of the DRI Federation collaborative efforts,” adds Ricordi. “The DRI at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine will be the only site performing this particular protocol in the United States.”
Media Contact:
Jeanne Krull
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
305-243-4853 / 305-812-6668
jkrull@med.miami.edu