Preclinical development of beta cell implants for treatment of diabetes (FWOAL558)

Diabetes is a frequent chronic disease that reduces quality of life and increases the risk for life threatening complications despite current treatment. The disease can appear at all ages with the type 1 form being most prevalent under the age of 40 years, and type 2 steadily increasing with age. Type1 diabetes is caused by massive loss of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas following local inflammatory and autoimmune reactivities. Patients require life-long insulin therapy, which can compensate for their failing endogenous hormone production but does not mimic the tight normal metabolic control. They remain therefore exposed to a variable glycemia with its risks for acute episodes of hypoglycemia and for chronic development of tissue lesions. The occurrence and severity of these complications differ individually, but all patients face the threat and daily burden of their disease. Against this background, finding ways to restore a functional beta cell mass has become a priority in medicine and made type1 diabetes a top target for cell therapy.

Keywords:Cell Therapy, Prevention, Transplantation, Diagnostic Tests, Immunology, Cell Death and Survival, Islet Cell Pathology, Islet Cell Biology, Beta Cell Transplantation, Diabetes

Disciplines:Endocrinology