Breakthrough in Tracking Islet Cells Will Help in Finding a Cure

Scientists in London have found a way to track insulin-producing islet cells after they have been transplanted, a breakthrough in the drive to find a cure for diabetes. "It is getting us closer to a cure," Dr. Joo Ho Tai, a researcher at the Lawson Health Research Institute”, said.
Tai and Robarts Research Institute scientists Dr. Paula Foster and Dr. David White are the first in Canada to image islet cells using the type of MRI scanner found in hospitals. Their work is published in the November issue of the journal Diabetes.
Islet cell transplantation, developed by scientists in Edmonton, has been heralded as a promising cure for diabetes, a disease that has hit more than two million Canadians. But there have been problems with the method.

The body’s immune system views the transplanted cells as foreign invaders, wiping out as many as 80 per cent of them at the time of transplantation. And islet levels can continue to drop, leaving the individual dependent on insulin again and open to complications.

The ability to obtain MRI images of islet cells will allow physicians to know how well the transplant has worked and monitor the survival of the cells over time. That will make it possible to adjust medications or change treatments to protect the islet cells.
"Without an image of the islets, doctors won’t have the right cure or treatment," said Tai. "Imaging is not a cure itself, but it is a great tool."

To track the islet cells, Robarts imaging scientists developed a technique to place non-harmful iron particles inside the cells so they can be detected by the MRI scanner. Without the ability to produce images of the cells inside the body, physicians currently rely mainly on blood tests to check on their survival. But by the time blood tests show the transplanted cells being rejected and attacked by the body’s immune system, it’s too late, Foster said. "By the time they detect anything, it is all over. There is no way you can go in and help.

"If the imaging can pick it up earlier, then you could decide do we need to put more islets in or do we need to give some different immunosuppressive along with it," she said.

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