Stem Cell Therapy and Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: Treatment Strategies and Future Perspectives

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is classified as an autoimmune disease which progressively results in the depletion of insulin-secreting β-cells. Consequently, the insulin secretion stops leading to hyperglycemic situations within the body. Under severe conditions, it also causes multi-organ diabetes-associated dysfunctionalities notably hypercoagulability, neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy, and sometimes organ failures. The prevalence of this disease has been noticed about 3% that has highlighted the serious concerns for healthcare professionals around the globe. For the treatment of this disease, the cell therapy is considered as an important therapeutic approach for the replacement of damaged β-cells. However, the development of autoantibodies unfortunately reduces their effectiveness with the passage of time and finally with the recurrence of diabetes mellitus. The development of new techniques for extraction and transplantation of islets failed to support this approach due to the issues related to major surgery and lifelong dependence on immunosuppression. For T1DM, such cells are supposed to produce, store, and supply insulin to maintain glucose homeostasis. The urgent need of much-anticipated substitute for insulin-secreting β-cells directed the researchers to focus on stem cells (SCs) to produce insulin-secreting β-cells. For being more specific and targeted therapeutic approaches, SC-based strategies opened up the new horizons to cure T1DM. This cell-based therapy aimed to produce functional insulin-secreting β-cells to cure diabetes on forever basis. The intrinsic regenerative potential along with immunomodulatory abilities of SCs highlights the therapeutic potential of SC-based strategies. In this article, we have comprehensively highlighted the role of SCs to treat diabetes mellitus.