Posted by Ellen on October 18, 2002 at 16:02:52:
Diabetes centre pushes for cure
Universities team up on treatment. But supply of donor pancreas for research is 'absolutely not enough:' co-director
LYNN MOORE
The Gazette
Friday, October 18, 2002
Work under way at McGill University and Université de Montréal may contribute to a made-in-Canada cure for Type l diabetes, researchers said yesterday at the launch of a new research centre.
The joint research initiative will focus on beta cell replacement, one of the most promising paths to a cure for the chronic disease endured by over 200,000 Canadians, mostly children.
"This centre may offer a very good hope that a cure for diabetes may come in Canada," Bob Hindle, chairman of the national Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, told reporters gathered at McGill.
The JDRF Centre for Beta Cell Replacement is receiving $2.6 million in funding over the next three years from the foundation.
The most common treatment for diabetes has been synthetic insulin injections but it has long been clear to researchers that insulin won't provide a cure, McGill's Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg said.
Interest is currently centred on the body's natural insulin-producing cells, beta cells, located in the pancreas and contained within clusters of cells called islets. These islets are isolated from each donor pancreas and transplanted.
Sadly, "there are absolutely not enough donors," Université de Montréal researcher and centre co-director Marc Prentki, said.
The centre's work will revolve around expanding the pool of beta cells by various means including trying to induce other cell types to synthesize and secrete insulin. Researchers will also try to protect transplanted islets.
One challenge is to find systems to deliver drugs directly to the transplanted islets, said researcher Dusica Maysinger. Targeted delivery would increase drug effectiveness and reduce the negative side effects caused if the drugs travel throughout the body, she said.
Researchers will also try to determine how diet can be used to increases beta-cell survival.
Also known as Juvenile Diabetes, Type l diabetes is a disease one does not outgrow. It reduces life expectancy by up to 15 years.
Those with Juvenile Diabetes must take multiple insulin injections daily and test their blood sugar six or more times per day.
Type ll or adult-onset diabetes mainly affects people older than 45, usually as a result of obesity.
lmoore@thegazette.southam.ca
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