American scientists have announced that within a decade, insulin-producing cells from pigs will be transplanted into human bodies to treat type 1 diabetes.
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| Pig heart valves and cells from pigs have also been used to treat patients (Photo: TTO) |
A research team from the University of Minnesota, USA, has successfully transplanted cells taken from the pancreas of pigs into the bodies of five diabetic monkeys. These monkeys were given anti-rejection medication and have made a full recovery.
Scientists hope that human trials will begin in 2009, at which point hundreds of thousands of diabetic patients will undergo animal tissue transplants. Previously, there have been successful transplants of human pancreas cells to treat diabetes. However, these human donors are extremely rare, making pig cells and tissues an optimal alternative.
Nonetheless, the anti-rejection medications that prevent the body from rejecting transplanted foreign tissues still cause numerous adverse side effects for patients. Therefore, further research is needed to reduce these side effects.
It is worth noting that hundreds of thousands of patients have received heart valve replacements using pig valves, and pig cells have been widely utilized to treat Parkinson’s disease.
KHANG LINH (According to BBC NEWS)
