Posted by Curtis Lomax on October 29, 2001 at 18:26:11:
In Reply to: DRI Update posted by Ellen on October 28, 2001 at 06:27:12:
This is the text of a post from "children with Diabetes Parents message board. I have omitted the name of the poster. It seems to be from notes and so don't rely on it as gospel. It contains the reported comment from Dr. Riccordi. I would hope to have the Dr. speak for himself.
I was hoping that Novolog would have some advantage to Humolog.
Read on,
Curtis Lomax
>- number of diabetics worldwide: in 1995=188 million; in 2010=221 million
>(forecasted).
>- with intensive blood glucose control, the life expectancy of a diabetic
>is
>10 years less than a non-diabetic. (How's that for sobering info?)
>- DRI recently established a stem cell research lab comletely funded from
>private sources to eliminate the research restrictions resulting from the
>President's recent stem cell decision.
>- a total of 16 people have completed the Edmonton protocol (in Edmonton).
>Of those, 11 are insulin free and 5 are now back on insulin injections --
>but at significantly lower insulin levels.
>- there's a new "Miami protocol #1" where bone marrow is initially
>transplanted to generate tolerance prior to transplanting the islets. This
>has eliminated the need for anti-rejection drugs. However, a small amount
>of insulin was still required.
>- there's also a new "Miami protocol #2" which is a variant of the Edmonton
>protocol using different steroid-free anti-rejection drugs. 6 out of 7
>people who went through this are now insulin-free, and 1 of them attended
>the meeting. It sure was great to see a living example of this research!
>- there are 5 separate variants of the Edmonton protocol in testing
>worldwide in addition to the Immune Tolerance Network which is replicating
>the Edmonton protocol in 10 centers worldwide. Over 60 sites worldwide are
>currently involved in multi-site trials. The results of these studies are
>truly impressive with HbA1C's prior to treatment averaging 8.0 and after
>the
>treatment averaging 5.8!
>- Dr, Riccordi (DRI's Scientific Director) said that he personally expects
>a
>major breakthrough in diabetes research within 3-5 years. Now, this
>doesn't
>necessarily mean a cure, but something that will have a significant impact
>on our kids (e.g., islet transplants without the need for anti-rejection
>drugs).
>- even the steroid-free anti-rejection drug therapies still have major side
>effects such as mouth ulcers, low white blood count, high cholesterol, etc.
>- 100% success creating tolerance in dogs by destroying their bone marrow
>via radiation treatment and then transplanting the islets. Researchers are
>investigating ways to do this without requiring the radiation treaatments.
>- everyone kept emphasizing DRI's openness to share research info with
>other
>research centers. This certainly was good to hear.
>- NOD mice (that are genetically predisposed to become diabetic) only will
>become diabetic if kept in a virus-free environment. The presence of any
>viruses causes the mice to NOTbecome diabetic. The researchers were saying
>that there's definitely an environmental aspect to diabetes causing an
>increased prevalence. However, it is plausible that it could be caused by
>the absence of specific viruses instead of the presence of specific
>viruses.
>The researchers admit that they're not making much progress in
>understanding
>why some people become diabetic.
>- researcher's re-analyzed the DCCT data and found out that 35% - 45% of
>the
>subjects were still in their honeymoon period. This was discovered since
>current clinical techniques are better at measuring c-peptide levels. (One
>of the original criteria for becoming part of the DCCT study was that their
>honeymoon period had to be over.) The data showed that even if a
>diabetic's
>pancreas produces only a tiny amount of insulin, the risk of neropathy is
>significantly reduced. This emphasized the need to treat newly diagnosed
>diabetics immediately with insulin.
>- there are possible complications with current islet transplant techniques
>including blood clots in the liver and internal bleeding.
>- JDRF's 2002 support of research was targeted to be $130 million, but it
>will be closer to $100 million due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
>- DRI supports more fundamental research while JDRF supports more applied
>research. Their approaches appear to be complementary.
>- they introduced a guy who donated $10 million to the DRI. How do you
>thank a guy for that type of a donation???
>- Dr. Riccordi believes that within 5 years we'll be able to take a biopsy
>of a diabetic's relative's pancreas, cause the iselts to reproduce in the
>lab and then transplant the genetically similar islets into the diabetic.
>- Novolog has the same quick action as Humolog but lasts longer. It also
>is
>buffered (unlike Humolog) which will cause it to clog pumps much less
>often.
>(Humolog can create micro occlusions in the canula which initially stops
>insulin flow for a while and then the occlusion releases and a large pool
>of
>Humolog is then injected causing inexplainable BG readings.) One CDE told
>the group that she has transitioned 20 pump users to Novolog with no change
>in basal/bolus rates, but much better control. I'll be talking to my
>daughter's endo about that!
>- Dr. Riccordi said that he puts no credibility in the recent announcements
>of pig islet transplants from New Zealand and Mexico. He said that these
>teams previously met with the DRI and these teams are the first research
>teams that the DRI decided not to share data with. Riccordi believes that
>they do not use proper scientific techniques and their data would not hold
>up to peer review. Riccordi said that the entire field of
>xenotranplantation looks not very promising due to major concerns with
>virus
>transmission regardless of any success breeding pigs immune to PERV. The
>combination of tissues from a different species and the recipient being on
>immunosuppressent drugs is a recipe for disaster ("the next HIV").
>- a guy who attended brought his kid with him and the kid was wearing a
>Glucowatch. He ordered it from Cygnus and had it shipped to a friend in
>England. I think that I'll try that!