Record, The (Hackensack, NJ) (KRT) - Aug. 18, 2006

Aug. 18--A Ho-Ho-Kus boy's stem cells could help scientists find a better treatment for juvenile diabetes.

Doctors have been injecting Liam Tencza with stem cells taken from the umbilical cord blood his parents saved when he was born seven years ago. The hope is that the stem cells can slow -- or even stop -- the progress of his diabetes.

Seven other diabetic children are receiving similar transplants of stem cells from their own umbilical cords in a national pilot study at the University of Florida.

There is no cure for juvenile, or type 1, diabetes, which afflicts more than 1.5 million Americans, including 125,000 children. The autoimmune disease destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Left untreated, patients can lapse into a coma or suffer kidney failure.

Cord blood, which is rich in stem cells, can be extracted from the umbilical cord in the minutes after a baby's birth and stored in blood banks. These stem cells are now routinely being used to treat cancer and dozens of other blood disorders. There is so much anticipation that stem cells can be effective in fighting juvenile diabetes that the lead doctor in the study says he spends a lot of time on the phone cautioning parents to keep their expectations realistic.

"It's important not to destroy their hope," said Dr. Michael J. Haller, a pediatric endocrinologist. "Everybody wants to cure diabetes. But this is a pilot study. It's unlikely to be the Holy Grail."

• นักวิทยาศาสตร์ค้นพบการ
  ปลูกถ่ายเซลล์โดยใช้
  Umbilical stem cells นาน
  เพียงใด ?
  


• เราสามารถเก็บรักษา
  Stem cells ได้นานเท่าไร ?
  


• วิธีการและขั้นตอนในการ
  เก็บ Umbilical Cord
  Blood เป็นอย่างไร ?
  


• ปัจจุบันมีการนำ Stem Cells
  ไปใช้อย่างไรบ้าง ?
  


• แนวโน้มการนำ Stem Cells
  ไปใช้ในอนาคต ?

มีต่อ   

But it has helped Liam Tencza. Before the infusion of stem cells, his blood glucose levels were rising and doctors were saying he would soon need regular injections of insulin. After the infusion, his blood glucose levels decreased. His body is fighting off the progression of the disease.

Liam, a plucky second-grader who loves sports and playing the electric guitar, was diagnosed with diabetes in December after a routine urine test detected excessive glucose. He was diagnosed early, during the so-called "honeymoon" phase of the disease, when a diabetic's body still makes some insulin, a hormone that regulates the body's metabolism of carbohydrates, including glucose.

"There's no magic pill to stop the process," said Liam's father, Steven. "As parents, you feel you're helpless. You see what's happening to your child."

Liam's mother discovered the Florida stem cell study last winter while spending one of many sleepless nights researching juvenile diabetes on the Web. Beth Tencza remembered that she had paid to have Liam's cord blood stored at Community Blood Services in Paramus when he was born.

She enrolled her son in the four-year clinical trial.

"We feel God was with us," she said.

The Tencza family flew to Florida and visited SeaWorld and the Kennedy Space Center as a treat before taking Liam for his transplant at the university in Gainesville.

"You've got to have some sugar with your medicine," Steven Tencza said.

Liam had blood drawn, then received the stem cells in an intravenous infusion that took just a half-hour.

Liam's own cord blood must be used to avoid rejection of the stem cells by his body, which would happen even with stem cells from a parent or sibling, Haller said.

Three boys and five girls, between 3 and 7 years old, are in the clinical trial, which aims to enroll a total of 10 or more children, he said.

Haller said some families may balk at joining the study because it requires using all of a child's cord blood, which means they won't have any left if the child gets another disease. This could change when storage facilities begin keeping cord blood in more than one vial, and improve freezing and thawing processes that tend to destroy cells, he said. Researchers may also develop methods, similar to cloning techniques, to reproduce larger amounts of stored stem cells, he said.

Since blood banks began storing cord blood in the past decade, it has become increasingly popular among parents who want to keep the blood for use if the child or a relative becomes ill. Taking the blood from the cut umbilical cord takes just a few minutes and costs approximately $1,500. Parents pay about $100 a year to keep the blood in storage.

Cord blood stem cells interest scientists because they are easier to obtain than stem cells from bone marrow and less controversial than stem cells from human embryos, which are opposed by pro-life advocates. They also have more potential than stem cells from bone marrow to develop into specialized cells needed to help a body fight a specific disease.

Last year, Richard J. Codey, then governor, created the nation's first public umbilical cord and placental blood banks for research at Community Blood Services of Paramus and at the New Jersey Coriell Institute for Medical Research in Camden.

The Florida study seeks to find whether cord blood stem cells can neutralize the autoimmune process, and help regenerate some pancreatic islet cells, which control blood sugar. It is funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

To cure diabetes, cord blood stem cells may be combined in the future with other medications, such as immune suppressant drugs, in a mix similar to "cocktails" given to cancer and HIV patients, Haller said.

"We're not likely to get enough data to get definitive results to say we're ready to treat all children with diabetes," Haller said. "But hopefully it will generate enough data to support future studies of cord blood with other agents."

Meanwhile, the Tenczas are relieved to be able to hold off on having to give their son's insulin shots.

"Liam should be getting worse, not better," Steven Tencza said.

"You're happy about that, right?" said Liam.

"We're absolutely happy," said his father, a medical equipment sales and service engineer.

Two of the Steven Tencza's three siblings have diabetes, but he does not. Genetic predisposition and triggers, such as a virus or being overweight, may cause the disease.

"We're not saying this is the end-all," Beth Tencza said. "But it gives people hope. That's why stem cell research is so important."