Chapter 10 - Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells as a New Therapeutic Approach for Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Adult stem cells have been evaluated as a potential regenerative therapy for many different diseases. One of these is diabetes which is a serious metabolic disorder characterized by either a lack of cellular response to insulin (insulin resistance) (type 2 diabetes) or loss of insulin production (type 1 diabetes). In this chapter, we summarize work performed in our lab, as well as many others, that focus on the ability of bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stem cells to sustain human islet β-cell function and survival and their potential use as a treatment for type 1 and type 2 diabetes.