Results at UCSF

So far, the UCSF team has transplanted islet cells into four Type 1 diabetes patients, ranging in age form 25-48. Two of them had to have second transplants; all four, however, have been able to stop taking external insulin, because their blood sugar levels have stabilized.

Tha success rate mirrors that of other islet transplant centers across the country.According to 2005 report by the Collaborative Islet Transplant Registry (part of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases), of the 138 patients who had received islet transplants at 19 different centers,

40 patients received one islet cell infusion, 69 received two, 28 received three, and one received four.

Six months after the patients' final infusions, 67 percent no longer needed insulin. One year after the final infusion, 58 percent weren’t using insulin. Those who were using insulin needed, 69 percent less than they had before the procedure. The study also found that episodes of dangerously low blood glucose, or hypoglycemia, were greatly reduced in patients who had undergone the transplant.