microcapsules from seaweed: offer novel method in juvenile diabetes treatment

Filed in archive Treatment on February 28, 2006

A novel treatment for juvenile diabetes (a method involving a product from seaweed) was first trialled in Australia on February 20 by University of New South Wales (UNSW) researchers at the Prince of Wales Hospital and Community Health Services in Sydney.

Patients of juvenile diabetes have to inject insulin on a daily basis to keep alive.

Previously, some people with juvenile diabetes were transplanted with insulin-producing cells (called islets, isolated from pancreas of human donors after death) not placed in microcapsules. Upon transplantation, the patients needed to take immunosuppressive drugs on a regular basis to prevent rejection.

The new method involves a simple one-off injection through the skin into the abdomen, while the patient is alert and awake. Insulin-producing cells contained in microcapsules made of alginate from seaweed are the ones being injected. The pores on the surface of the microcapsules will allow the entry of nutrients into the cell and the insulin from the cells to the recipient.

This "simple" method of treatment could be the end of injecting insulin.

Source: UNSW