Success in Drug Trial With Cells From Pigs; DIABETES FILE

By PALMER, Rebecca A KIWI-LED drug trial in Russia that features injecting human patients with pig cells has allowed one diabetic patient to go without daily insulin treatment for five months. The study's initial findings increase pressure on the New Zealand Government to sign off a proposed local trial. Health Minister David Cunliffe is still considering whether to give the trial final approval after it gained the green light from Medsafe and a regional ethics committee last year. Professor Bob Elliott, medical director of Living Cell Technologies, said yesterday that none of the four patients so far involved in the Russian trial had suffered serious adverse effects. The trial uses insulin-producing islet cells from newborn pigs, encased in capsules derived from seaweed. Professor Elliott was forced to halt a study involving Auckland patients in 1996 because of fears it could spread pig viruses to humans. The cells used in the Russian trial are derived from Auckland Island pigs, which Professor Elliott said were disease-free after living in isolation for 200 years. "To our delight, they have no infections whatsoever," he told the International Diabetes Federation Western Pacific Region Congress in Wellington. Two of the Russian patients had completed six months of observations and had shown a "significantly reduced need" for insulin. One had stayed off it for five months. She then resumed "tiny" daily doses after medical advice. The other patient had almost halved his daily requirement over a six-month period. A third patient had not shown any positive response and the fourth's insulin requirement had reduced slightly. The trial is continuing. Last year, it was revealed that pig cells were still producing some insulin for Aucklander Michael Helyer, one of the original patients. If a new trial were approved, higher doses of islet cells would be given to eight patients at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital. Mr Cunliffe said last night that he took his responsibilities in deciding whether to approve a New Zealand trial "extremely seriously". This included considering clinical risks and benefits, and cultural, spiritual and ethical issues. —————————— DIABETES FILE —————————— ISLET CELLS AND DIABETES * Type-1 diabetes is a condition whereby the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone that enables the body to use sugar (glucose) properly. Those with type-1 diabetes have to inject insulin on a regular basis instead, to balance their blood sugar levels. Without the insulin, they die. * Islets are clusters of cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. In type-1 diabetes, the immune system, which normally protects the body, attacks and kills the islet cells. * Islet cells can be transplanted from a dead donor's pancreas but the treatment is not widely available. Scientists are studying other options. * Diabetes New Zealand estimates 15,000 Kiwis have type-1 diabetes, including 3500 children and teens. (c) 2008 Dominion Post. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.