15-04-2025
Kyoto hospital succeeds in iPS sheet transplant to diabetic patient
Kyoto University Hospital has succeeded in transplanting pancreatic cell sheets made from induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cells into a diabetic patient, achieving the first clinical application of such sheets in Japan.
Announcing the results Monday, the hospital said that the patient in her 40s has already been discharged with a favorable prognosis.
It was the first transplant surgery in the hospital's clinical trial for treating Type 1 diabetes through the transplantation of pancreatic cell sheets made from iPS cells.
The patient was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2001 and underwent the surgery in February this year. The transplanted sheets secrete insulin, a hormone that controls the amount of sugar in the blood.
The hospital observed her for one month after the surgery and confirmed that there were no safety problems.
The targets of the clinical trial are three patients with Type 1 diabetes aged between 20 and 64, including the patient who had the surgery. The hospital is preparing to perform the second transplantation.
After their operations, the targets will be monitored for five years, during which blood sugar and insulin levels will be checked.
In 2026 or later, the effectiveness of the treatment will be examined in a clinical trial including patients abroad. The hospital aims to realize practical application of the treatment in the 2030s.
In Type 1 diabetes, pancreatic islet cells, which produce insulin in the pancreas, break down, making it impossible to control blood sugar levels.
Japan has about 100,000 to 140,000 patients with the disease. Patients need daily injections of insulin.
Transplantation of pancreatic islet cells is covered by the country's public medical insurance. But only a few cases per year have been recorded due to a shortage of donors.
In Europe and the United States, clinical trials using embryonic stem cells are under way, but iPS cells are considered safer.
Professor Daisuke Yabe of Kyoto University Hospital said, "We hope to further advance our research to defeat Type 1 diabetes as soon as possible."
