If you search this blog for pig islet cell transplantation, the following entries will be generated:

Pig Islet Cell May Help Solve Diabetes Problem

Lab-grown Insulin-producing Cells: A Breakthrough in Diabetes Research

Could Pigs be the new soldiers in fighting diabetes?

Pig islet cell transplantation (the correct term being xenotransplantation) is a process wherein insulin-producing pig islet cells are transplanted into humans to help with the amount of insulin that will regulate blood sugar levels.

Now, here's the most recent update from the study of Melbourne scientists from a study there are conducting in Russia:

• A Russian woman injected with pig cells four weeks ago has not needed the regular insulin injections she had relied on to keep her type 1 diabetes in check
• A second patient, a Russian medical student, has seen his insulin injections cut by 40 per cent in the four months since receiving the pig cell transplant.

In this particular study, pig islet cells are being implanted via a capsule called Diabecell which is made from neonatal pig islet cells collected from the pancreas of disease-free pigs bred on a remote New Zealand island.

Cells are then put in coated capsules and injected into the abdominal cavity of the type 1 diabetes patients.

The pig cells are intended to produce insulin, mimicking a healthy body's natural production of the hormone that controls blood glucose levels.

Pig cell treatments have been tested before, but Prof Elliott's 12-month trial is the first to use the cells without the need for drugs to stop the human body rejecting them.

Prof Bob Elliott is the medical director of Living Cell Technologies - the company that is the maker of the Diabecell Capsule ( a pdf dile).

Find more details from Melbourne Herald Sun.

[In Photo: Diabecell capsule, Credit: Melbourne Herald Sun]