This archive report was first published on 27 October 2021.
Published on October 27, 2021, a study by Professor Shulamit Levenberg and her team at Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, has brought hope to millions of people living with type 2 diabetes.
According to the World Health Organization, type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition caused by insulin resistance and a low ability of cells to absorb sugar, resulting in chronic excess blood glucose. If left untreated, it can lead to heart disease, stroke, vision loss, kidney failure, and other complications.
Levenberg's team has developed a revolutionary new treatment that uses muscle cell autograft to absorb sugar at great rates. In a groundbreaking experiment, the team isolated mouse muscle cells, programmed them to present more insulin-activated sugar transporters, and then cultured them to develop muscle tissue.
The muscle tissue was then transplanted back into the abdomens of rats with type 2 diabetes, and the results were astonishing. For four months, the rodents' blood sugar levels remained low, and their liver fat levels were significantly reduced.
Levenberg explains that the beauty of this treatment lies in its ability to remove the patient's cells, treat them, and eliminate the risk of rejection. These cells then easily reintegrate into the body to respond to normal activity.
The study was published in the scientific journal Science Advances, offering new hope for people living with type 2 diabetes.
