Kyoto University Hospital announces the starting of clinical trial to treat type 1 diabetes using iPS cells

 Recently NHK New on-line reported the following:

iPS細胞使い1型糖尿病の治療 京大病院が治験開始を発表

2025年4月14日 20時00分

免疫の異常などで発症するとされる「1型糖尿病」について、京都大学医学部附属病院はiPS細胞から血糖値を下げる「インスリン」を分泌する細胞を作って患者に移植する治験を開始したと発表しました。1例目の患者の経過は良好で2030年代の実用化を目指したいとしています。

「1型糖尿病」は免疫の異常などによって血糖値を下げるインスリンを分泌する細胞が正常に働かなくなる病気で、国内に12万人余りの患者がいるとされています。

京都大学医学部附属病院は14日、京都市内で会見を開き、健康な人のiPS細胞からインスリンを分泌する「すい島細胞」を作ってシート状にし、「1型糖尿病」の患者の腹部に移植する治験を開始したと発表しました。

1例目の手術はことし2月に行われ、神奈川県のベンチャー企業が作った数センチ四方のシートを40代の女性の患者に移植したということです。

今回の治験は安全性を中心に経過を確認するのが目的で、女性はすでに退院し、術後1か月までに安全性に大きな問題はなかったということです。

研究チームは、今後さらに2人に移植手術を行うことにしていて、有効性などを確認した上で2030年代の実用化を目指したいとしています。

京都大学大学院医学研究科糖尿病・内分泌・栄養内科学の矢部大介教授は「大きなトラブルはなく現段階では十分に成功したと言える。患者から毎日インスリンを注射をするのは大変だと聞いているので、注射をしなくていい世界になることを期待したい」と話していました。

Translation

Kyoto University Hospital announces the starting of clinical trial to treat type 1 diabetes using iPS cells

Kyoto University Hospital announced that it had begun clinical trials to create cells from iPS cells that secreted insulin that lowered blood sugar levels, and transplanted them into patients with type 1 diabetes which was believed to develop due to immune abnormalities. The progress of the first patient was good, and hoped to make the treatment practical in the 2030s.

Type 1 diabetes was a disease in which cells that secreted insulin that lowered blood sugar levels could no longer function normally due to immune abnormalities, and it was said there were more than 120,000 patients in Japan.

Kyoto University Hospital held a press conference in Kyoto City on the 14th and announced that it had begun clinical trials to create insulin-secreting "Islet cells" from iPS cells from healthy people, to form them into sheets and transplant them into the abdomen of patients who had type 1 diabetes.

The first surgery took place in February this year, when a sheet measuring a few centimeter square made by a venture company in Kanagawa Prefecture was transplanted into a female patient who was in her 40s.

The purpose of this clinical trial was to check the progress, with a focus on safety. The woman had already been discharged from the hospital, and there were no major safety issues one month after the surgery.

The research team planned to perform transplant surgeries on two more people in the future, and hoped to put it into practical use in the 2030s after confirming its effectiveness.

Professor Yabe Daisuke (矢部大介) of the Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Nutrition at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine said, "There have been no major problems, so I would say it has been a success at this stage. I have heard from patients that it is difficult to inject insulin every day, so I hope that we can move towards a world where injections are no longer necessary."

              So, Kyoto University Hospital announces that it has begun clinical trials to create cells from iPS cells that can secrete insulin to lower blood sugar levels, and to transplant them into patients with type 1 diabetes. The progress of the first patient is a success. Apparently, we are moving towards a world where insulin injections are no longer necessary.