Posted on November 30, 2004 at 8:50 a.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — Only months after University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) doctors gave two Type I diabetics transplants of insulin-producing pancreas cells from organ donors, both patients are pleased with the results — one no longer requires insulin and the other is at about 10 percent or less of her previous requirement.
The two patients who received pancreatic islet cell transplants are Valerie Hendrix, 25, a student at Troy (Alabama) University, and Gay Ann Nelson, 50, who works for the Huntsville (Alabama) City Council.
Dr. Devin Eckhoff, director of the UAB islet cell transplant program, says he hopes to perform three more such operations with the same experimental technique and anticipates then making changes in the regimen that are intended to improve the procedure.
Islet cell transplantation, although still experimental, has fostered enormous hope for a cure for diabetes, according to Eckhoff, who also is director of the UAB division of transplantation.
“We have good evidence that we can make improvements that will help the pancreatic islet cells survive longer and function better,” he explained. “We also are moving closer to applying for permission to make it possible for islet-cell transplant recipients to be able to reduce their life-long dependence on drugs that suppress the immune system.”
He said that UAB breakthroughs in this field known as “transplant tolerance” might eventually allow patients to eliminate entirely their dependence on the anti-rejection drugs. “That would be a great day for all diabetics — indeed, for all transplant patients &3151; to look forward to,” he said.
Candidates for the islet cell transplant at UAB are type I diabetics (have no insulin-producing islet cells in their pancreas) whose disease has been difficult to keep under control, but who have not yet suffered the most serious complications of their diabetes, such as kidney failure and blindness. Because not all of the donated cells survive and function permanently with use of current methods, additional transplants are sometimes necessary.
Valerie Hendrix of Troy was the first recipient, on April 15. She later had a second transplant and since June has been insulin-free. “I take care of myself with proper diet and exercise, and make sure to take my anti-rejection pills regularly,” Hendrix said. “I’ve received a great gift from this donation, and I am grateful to be the first patient in Alabama to undergo this procedure.”
Gay Ann Nelson, of Madison County, was diagnosed as a “juvenile diabetic” when she was 16. Nelson received the first of her two transplants on July 22. After a second “booster” two months later, she requires only one-10th of her usual amount of insulin.
“I was always scared that I’d have one of my low blood-sugar episodes and pass out in a dangerous situation, so this treatment brings me and my family a great deal of relief,” she said. “And I’m so excited about the possibility of being a part of ‘the cure’ we’ve been hoping to find after so many years.”