Can insulin-producing cells be replenished?
Ask the doctor
Q. Is there a continual production of insulin-producing beta cells in the body, or is there a limit on how many are produced?
A. For many years, it was believed that a person was born with a fixed number of insulin-producing cells and the pancreas could not create new cells if the original ones were destroyed. We now know that this is not the case.
Scientists have discovered methods that can promote new growth of insulin-producing cells in animals. This could potentially lead to therapies that would work in humans. Right now, medication to do this is not available.
In theory, stimulating new growth of insulin-producing cells would be most helpful in type 1 diabetes.
But potentially there is a big problem: Most people with type 1 diabetes have the disease because their own immune system has made antibodies that attack and destroy their own islet cells. So even if more are produced, these cells might be destroyed by those antibodies.
Image: © Panuwat Dangsungnoen/Getty Images
About the Author
Howard E. LeWine, MD, Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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