In a groundbreaking achievement, Chinese scientists have successfully cured a patient’s diabetes using an innovative cell therapy.
The patient, a 59-year-old man who had been living with type 2 diabetes for 25 years, underwent an experimental cell transplant in July 2021.
Within eleven weeks, he no longer required external insulin, and his oral medication dosage was gradually reduced until it was completely stopped a year later.
This medical breakthrough was achieved by a team of doctors and researchers from Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, the Centre for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Renji Hospital.
The team used and programmed the patient’s own peripheral blood mononuclear cells, transforming them into “seed cells” that reconstituted pancreatic islet tissue in an artificial environment.
The patient has now been insulin-free for 33 months, marking a significant advancement in cell therapy for diabetes.This innovative approach has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of diabetes, a chronic condition that affects millions of people worldwide.
The new therapy could substantially reduce the healthcare burden, particularly in China, which has the highest number of diabetes patients globally.
While further studies are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of this approach, this breakthrough offers new hope for people living with diabetes.
