Type 2 Diabetes Patients Benefit From Bone Marrow Stem-Cell Transplants, Reduces Insulin Use

Transplanted bone marrow stem cells received in patients with type 2 diabetes may be able to help patients suffering from the disease require less insulin and live lives that require less treatment.

"There is growing interest in the scientific community for cellular therapies that use bone marrow-derived cells for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its complications," said study corresponding author Anil Bhansali, according to a press release, the PhD professor and head of the Endocrinology Department at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education in Chandrigarh, India. "But the potential of stem cell therapy for this disease is yet to be fully explored."

Researchers have been focusing on a growing interest in using stem cell transplantation to treat TD2M, as few studies have examined the possibilities of bone marrow-derived stem cells. Experimentation using these cells could help researchers explore the possibilities.

The study showed that cell transplantation had a significant impact on patients as those administered cells demonstrated a significant reduction in insulin requirement. To add to that, researchers also observed that a significantly smaller reduction in the insulin required of the control group could help patients lead a more normal life.

Dr. Bhansali said he believes the strength of the study stems from the inclusion of a homogenous patient population with T2DM and the possibility to exhibit good glycemic control, along with the prescence of a similar control group that did not receive the cell transplants.

"The efficacy and safety of stem cell therapy needs to be established in a greater number of patients and with a longer duration follow-up," Bhansali and his co-authors said, according to the study. "The data available so far from animal and human studies is encouraging, however, it has enormous limitations."

With successful results, researchers said they believe that autologous bone marrow-derived stem cell therapy in patients with T2DM can result in a significant decrease in insulin dose requirement. 

More information regarding the study can be found in the journal Cell Transplantation.