China News Service, Changsha, January 12 (Fu Jingyi) The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University revealed on the 12th that after the hospital’s reexamination, the world’s first type 2 diabetic kidney transplantation patient’s glycated hemoglobin, postprandial Blood sugar and renal function were normal, and exogenous insulin was completely removed.
This is the world's first case of pig islet xenotransplantation in the treatment of diabetes to completely get rid of insulin, an important breakthrough in xenogeneic islet transplantation.
The patient had a history of diabetes for 23 years. Even with the daily use of a large amount of exogenous insulin, he still suffered from uncontrolled blood glucose metabolism, developed renal insufficiency and uremia, and required frequent hemodialysis to maintain his life.
The patient underwent a kidney transplant in 2019, but due to uncontrolled diabetes, the transplanted kidney was damaged three years later.
In November 2022, the team of Wang Wei, professor of Radiology at the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, together with the Department of Transplantation, Department of Endocrinology, and Department of Nutrition, formed a multidisciplinary consultation (MDT) team for islet transplantation. A transplantation treatment plan was specifically designed.
The core content of the program is the team's original and innovative technical system, including pig islet extraction, immune tolerance induction-based new anti-rejection program, minimally invasive surgical approach and postoperative complications monitoring plan.
When he was discharged from the hospital, the patient's diabetes-related indicators were significantly improved, and his glycosylated hemoglobin returned to the normal range, from 9% before surgery to 5.4% of normal, and the total amount of daily exogenous insulin was reduced by nearly half compared with before surgery.
More importantly, the transplanted kidney function of the patient returned to normal, which changed the damage effect of diabetes on the transplanted kidney before transplantation.
After two months of recovery after being discharged from the hospital, the curative effect of pig islet transplantation on the treatment of diabetes was further revealed. Glycated hemoglobin, liver function, kidney function, and blood sugar tests all maintained normal levels.
The patient is currently in good mental condition and is competent for daily work, and has completely weaned off exogenous insulin.
It is reported that diabetes is a major chronic disease that seriously affects human health. The number of diabetic patients in China has reached about 140 million.
Islet transplantation can cure diabetes. The extreme shortage of human donors is the bottleneck that limits the application of this technology. Xenotransplantation can effectively solve the shortage of donors.
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