Brussels researchers make progress with diabetic mice

Scientists at the Free University of Brussels (ULB/VUB) have succeeded in getting diabetic mice to produce their own insulin, enabling them to balance their blood sugar levels. Future research has to demonstrate whether their technique can be applied in therapies for diabetes patients.

The scientists focused on cells in the pancreas called acinar cells that normally produce digestive substances, though not insulin. The cells in the pancreas that do produce insulin are called beta cells. Mice that barely had beta cells left, due to long-term diabetes, were treated in such a way that their acinar cells were transformed into beta cells.

Patients with a similar shortage of beta cells need regular insulin injections to balance their blood sugar levels, but this breakthrough could forecast a change of therapy.