Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have converted stem cells from the human uterus into insulin-producing cells and transplanted them into mice to control the animals’ diabetes.
The endometrium, or uterine lining, is a source of adult stem cells. Normally, these cells generate uterine tissue each month as part of the menstrual cycle. Like other stem cells, however, they can divide to form other kinds of cells.
The study’s findings suggest the possibility that endometrial stem cells could be used to develop insulin-producing islet cells. These islet cells could then be used to advance the study of islet cells transplantation as a treatment for people with diabetes. If the transplantation of islet cells derived from endometrial cells is perfected, the study authors write that women with diabetes could provide their own endometrial tissue for such a transplant, sidestepping the chance of rejection posed by tissue from another person. Endometrial stem cells are readily available and can be collected easily during a simple outpatient procedure. Endometrial tissue could also be collected after hysterectomy, the surgical removal of the uterus.
“The study findings are encouraging,” said Louis V. DePaolo, Ph.D., chief of the Reproductive Sciences Branch at the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), which funded the study. “Research to transplant insulin-producing cells into patients with diabetes could proceed at a much faster pace with a relatively accessible source of donor tissue.”
The study authors note that such a treatment would be more useful for people with Type 1 diabetes, in which no insulin is produced. The treatment would be less useful for Type 2 diabetes, in which insulin is usually produced, but in which cells have difficulty using the insulin that is available.
The findings appear in a recent issue of Molecular Therapy. Study authors write that endometrial tissue samples could be warehoused in a tissue bank. A large number of samples would make it comparatively easy to find compatible tissue for transplant to women who no longer have a uterus and to men.
Verifying how long this treatment stays effective is one their next research priorities along with finding ways to may the treatment more effective.