Imitation is the Best Form of Flattery
16th Nov 2006, 08:29 GMT
Filed under: Type 1, Childhood, Research, Opinion, Support When Dr. Denise Faustman revealed her ground-breaking discovery 5 years ago, most of the biomedical world turned their noses up. Dr. Faustman said she had cured diabetic mice by getting them to regrow their insulin-producing cells. Today Faustman dismisses the initial pessimism by looking at the bright-side "a lot of groups are working on this now," she says. "If imitation is the best form of flattery, then I'm flattered." To correct the autoimmune attack, Faustman injected mice with a cocktail that made their bodies churn out a signaling chemical called TNF-alpha. This compound destroyed the defective T-cells that mistakenly targeted islets. When a surgeon implanted islets on the kidneys of each mouse, the transplants could take root, make insulin and restore normal blood sugar control. To eliminate the problem of the bad T-cells returning, Faustman borrowed an idea from the transplant specialists, who have found that liver or spleen cells can "reeducate" a recipient's immune system to treat the new cells as welcomed guests. Patience is a virtue and Dr. Faustman deserves the crown. Until recently, it was taken for granted that once the beta cells are lost, they can never grow back. This past March, three separate scientific studies confirmed that they had repeated Faustman's protocols and reproduced her most important result: it is possible to stop the mistaken T-cell attack and when you do, the animals recover normal function. "The results are fantastic, coming from these groups, which were each paid $1 million to spend three years showing that I was wrong," she remarks. "I mean, they were all funded by the JDRF." Dr. Faustman, when you're right - you're right. And for the salvation of every person living with an autoimmune disease: you're right! Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments