Stem Cells Reset Immune Systems in Diabetes
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Dr. Richard Burt |
The majority of patients with Type 1 diabetes who underwent transplantation with their own stem cells to reset their immune systems became insulin free, several for more than three years.
Richard Burt, MD, coauthor of the study and associate professor of medicine at the Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, reports these patients also showed an increased level of a substance that indicates improved functioning of their beta cells, a cell in the pancreas that secretes insulin. The substance is C-peptide, a byproduct of insulin production.
The study was published in the April 15 Journal of the American Medical Association.