Press Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Susan Preston
(973) 972-7265

At UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
Scientists Find Transplanting Umbilical Cord Blood Cells
May Be Effective Approach for Treating Both Type 1 and 2 Diabetes

1/27/05—In separate research studies, scientists at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) have found that transplanting umbilical cord blood cells appears to produce positive results in treating both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in animal models. Both studies were conducted in mice. The mice are animal models of human disease.

In one study, intravenous administration of human umbilical cord blood cells (HUBC) to non-obese mice with Type 1 diabetes resulted in significantly lowered blood glucose levels and an increased lifespan as compared with untreated mice.
In the second study, intravenous administration of human umbilical cord blood to obese mice with spontaneous development of Type 2 diabetes, lowered blood glucose levels and an improved survival rates.

The studies were led by Dr. Norman Ende, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School in Newark. The results were published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, the first study in October 2004, and the second in December 2004.

"The study involving Type 1 diabetes demonstrates for the first time a dose-dependent decrease in blood glucose levels in mice that received HUBC," Dr. Ende said. "In fact none of the subjects that received the highest dose died, which may be attributed to better control of glycemia. Also of note is that none of the transplanted mice demonstrated clinical or histological evidence of either acute or chronic graft vs. host disease." The mice received only human cells without immunosuppression.

"The study involving the Type 2 diabetic mice showed not only improved blood glucose levels and survival rates, but also improvements in the glomeruli of the kidney," Dr. Ende said. "The impact on the kidney is particularly interesting because, to our knowledge, no study has addressed the implications of stem cell (human umbilical cord blood cell) therapy on kidney disease in diabetic animals."

The other two researchers at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School who participated in both studies were Dr. Ruifeng Chen of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Dr. Allure S. Reddi of the Department of Medicine.

In discussing these findings, Dr. Ende raised the possibility that cells present in all newborn babies after birth, which he calls Berashis ("In the Beginning") cells, may hold the same potential for clinical treatment of human diseases as that predicted for embryonic stem cells.

--January 27, 2005