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Experimental diabetes treatment helps Chicago woman go off insulin

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Published  November 12, 2024 6:09pm CST
Health
FOX 32 Chicago

Chicago woman go off insulin after experimental diabetes treatment

A Chicago woman who has struggled with Type 1 diabetes since childhood is now off insulin, thanks to doctors at the University of Chicago.

The Brief

    • A Chicago woman with Type 1 diabetes no longer requires insulin following an experimental transplant at the University of Chicago.
    • The trial involves islet cell transplants and an innovative anti-rejection drug to help patients produce their own insulin.
    • Doctors say this approach could lead to new possibilities for diabetes treatment, though not all patients would qualify.

CHICAGO - A Chicago woman with uncontrollable diabetes is now off insulin thanks to doctors at the University of Chicago.

She is part of an experimental clinical trial that could reverse diabetes. This is a story that potentially has a far-reaching impact for people with Type 1 diabetes.

Marlaina Goedel has been dealing with uncontrollable diabetes since she was 5 years old. She’s a horse lover who had to give up being at the stables. She had asymptomatic Type 1 diabetes, and her daughter and family members would often find her passed out on the floor. Marlaina said it just became too much to handle.

That’s when she learned about an experimental islet cell transplant procedure at the University of Chicago. It involves injecting patients with healthy islet cells from a donor pancreas that can produce insulin. It also has the potential to reverse diabetes by reducing or eliminating the need for insulin injections.

A few weeks after the procedure, Marlaina was insulin-free.

"Three weeks after that, doctor Witkowski called me over the phone and he was like, I wish this could be in person, but today’s the day. Mark your calendar. Stop all insulin. You’re cured," Goedel said.

Doctors have been doing islet cell transplants for years now, but the University of Chicago is the first hospital to use a certain anti-rejection drug called tegoprubart. Doctors say it’s not as toxic as other anti-rejection drugs and has little or no side effects. That’s the difference here.

And so far in two patients, the transplant and anti-rejection drug has worked.

So is this a cure for diabetes?

"We call it a functional cure because we [are] providing the cells, and then the patients can stop insulin completely. However, it requires those additional medications to protect the islets from rejection. So it’s not a complete cure in the sense that this is not one procedure and [the] patient is off, you know, off diabetes forever," said Dr. Piotr Witkowski, University of Chicago Medicine.

So basically, the patient will have to stay on the anti-rejection medication for some time, and there is a chance for recurrence of diabetes. That’s why this isn’t for all Type 1 patients. It’s only for those patients like Marlaina whose life is severely compromised.

But Dr. Witkowski says this is a major milestone and the next step in the development of a cure for diabetes.

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