Adult or Embryonic
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Posted by Martin on 12:46:54 2010/06/30
In Reply to:
Re: Pig islet cell transplants posted by Jay
They claim adult islet are superior to embryonic.
In earlier research, Hammerman and his colleagues demonstrated they could cure diabetes in rats using larger quantities of embryonic pig pancreatic cell clusters alone, without the need for immune suppression drugs. But they hit a roadblock when they attempted the same transplant procedure in non-human primates. The embryonic pig pancreatic cells engrafted in the primates and lowered their blood sugar levels but not enough to wean the animals completely off insulin injections.
"Primates are much larger than rats, and we learned we would need to give them massive amounts of embryonic pig pancreatic tissues, which is not practical," Hammerman says. "Adult pig islets provide a more concentrated source of insulin and are easier to obtain. We are hopeful their ability to effectively control blood sugar levels in rats without an immune suppression requirement will carry over to non-human primates and eventually to humans."
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