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The pancreas can be triggered to regenerate itself through a type of fasting diet, say US researchers.\nRestoring the function of the organ \u2013 which helps control blood sugar levels \u2013 reversed symptoms of diabetes in animal experiments.The study, published in the journal Cell, says the diet reboots the body.
\nExperts said the findings were \u201cpotentially very exciting\u201d and could be \u201cimmensely\u201d beneficial.
\nThis is the latest study into the health benefits of the \u201cfasting-mimicking diet\u201d.
\nPeople spend five days on a low calorie, low protein, low carbohydrate but high unsaturated-fat diet.
\nThen they have 25 days eating what they want \u2013 so overall it mimics periods of feast and famine.
\nDiabetes therapy?
\nThe experiments were on mice, so the diet was modified for the different species.
\nBut the results showed the diet regenerated a special type of cell in the pancreas called a beta cell.
\nThese are the cells that detect sugar in the blood and release the hormone insulin if it gets too high.
\nDr Valter Longo, from the University of Southern California, said: \u201cOur conclusion is that by pushing the mice into an extreme state and then bringing them back \u2013 by starving them and then feeding them again \u2013 the cells in the pancreas are triggered to use some kind of developmental reprogramming that rebuilds the part of the organ that\u2019s no longer functioning.\u201d
\nThere were benefits in both type-1 and type-2 diabetes in the mouse experiments.
\nFurther tests on tissue samples from people with type-1 diabetes produced similar effects.
\nDr Longo said: \u201cMedically, these findings have the potential to be very important because we\u2019ve shown \u2013 at least in mouse models \u2013 that you can use diet to reverse the symptoms of diabetes.
\n\u201cScientifically, the findings are perhaps even more important because we\u2019ve shown that you can use diet to reprogram cells without having to make any genetic alterations.\u201d
\nSeparate trials of the diet in people have been shown to improve blood sugar levels. The latest findings help to explain why.
\nDr Emily Burns, research communications manager at Diabetes UK, said: \u201cThis is potentially very exciting news, but we need to see if the results hold true in humans before we\u2019ll know more about what it means for people with diabetes.
\n\u201cPeople with type-1 and type-2 diabetes would benefit immensely from treatments that can repair or regenerate insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.\u201d \u2013 BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"