Diabetes treatment: A rapid review of the current and future scope of stem cell research

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a major health concern of the developing and developed nations across the globe. This devastating disease accounts for the 5% deaths around the world annually. The current treatment methods do not address the underlying causes of the disease and have severe limitations. Stem cells are unique cells with the potential to differentiate into any type of specialized cells. This feature of both adult and embryonic stem cells was explored in great detail by the scientists around the world and are successful in producing insulin secreting cells. The different type of stem cells (induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and adult stem cells) proves to be potent in treating diabetes with certain limitations. This article precisely reviews the resources and progress made in the field of stem cell research for diabetic treatment.

The progress of Stem cells in the treatment of diabetes mellitus type 1

“…Blood clots entrapping islets may impaire insulin production of the transplanted islets due to shutting them off from oxygen and to attracting immunocytes (Bennet et al, 2000).Therefore, Scientists explore the possibilities to generate pancreatic cell from stem cell. The stem cell based therapy for diabetes aims to replace the diseased or lost cells of the pancreas using pluripotent or multipotent stem cells (Abdulazeez, 2015).…”

“…Human ESCs can be differentiated into endocrine cells but there is a risk of promoting the development of tumors (Kroon et al, 2008). Groups of researchers used mouse and human ESCs and indicated final cell homogeneity, immaturity of the differentiated cell, low numbers of insulin-producing cells and a poor insulin response when the cells were exposed to glucose (Abdulazeez, 2015). Using human ESC-derived pancreatic precursor cells to treat patients with T1D is on experiment where the cells are encapsulated in a drug delivery system developed by the Encaptra Company.…”

“…However, in most of the cases the cells from the embryo are obtained by destroying the embryo which raises a question about the origin of life and ethical rights to destroy the embryo (Abdulazeez, 2015).…”

“…Diabetes occurs due to lack of insulin production by pancreas or the cells of the body not responding properly to the insulin produced (Gardner and Shoback, 2011). The total number of diabetic population in 2012 were about 371 million and is expected to reach 552 million in 2030 (Abdulazeez, 2015). Type 1 diabetes mellitus is characterized by loss of insulin-producing beta cells of the islets of Langerhans in pancreas, resulting in insulin deficiency (Rother, 2007), mainly by CD8+,CD4+ and some cytokines such as IL-2 and TNF-a and so it is classified as immune-mediated or idiopathic disease (Atkinson and Maclaren, 1994).…”

Antidiabetic Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Kalanchoe Pinnata Leaves in Alloxan Induced Hyperglycaemic Rats.

“…It is worth noticing that this disease is a burden of health care in both developed and developing countries (Abdulazeez et al, 2013). Diabetes develops from prolong glucose imbalance between intracellular and extracellular resulted in hyperglycaemia state in which blood glucose can not be utilized by living cells.…”