Engineering Will Advance Diabetic Care

Almost everyone knows someone who has diabetes. An estimated 20.8 million people in the United States—7.0 percent of the population—have diabetes, a serious, lifelong condition. Of those, 14.6 million have been diagnosed, and 6.2 million have not yet been diagnosed. In 2005, about 1.5 million people aged 20 or older were diagnosed with diabetes

Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism—the way our bodies use digested food for growth and energy. Most of the food we eat is broken down into glucose, the form of sugar in the blood. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the body.

After digestion, glucose passes into the bloodstream, where it is used by cells for growth and energy. For glucose to get into cells, insulin must be present. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, a large gland behind the stomach. The insulin hormone is secreted by what is called pancreatic islets.

When we eat, these islets cells in the pancreas automatically produce the right amount of insulin to move glucose from blood into our cells. In people with diabetes, however, the islets either produces little or no insulin, or the cells do not respond appropriately to the insulin that is produced. Glucose builds up in the blood, overflows into the urine, and passes out of the body in the urine. Thus, the body loses its main source of fuel even though the blood contains large amounts of glucose.

Diabetes impacts the individuals afflicted and society as a whole due to the significant complications associated with using existing insulin treatment strategies. Now, a new source of insulin secreting cells as a replacement strategy for treating diabetes is being researched.

Transplantation of pancreatic islets to restore insulin production is promising; however, the donor pancreata are in short supply and do not meet medical needs.

However, the development of tissue engineered islets will provide a new source of insulin-producing cells and help realize the full potential of cell therapy for diabetes.

Sources

National Institute of Diabetic and Digestive, Kidney Disorders
http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/overview/

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
http://www.nibib.nih.gov/