Cells from the patient's own blood are mobilized to treat vascular dysfunction in diabetic patients

This is according to the first exposure of researchers from Laniado Hospital at the diabetes congress that will be held this month

The Research Center in the Hematology Department at the Laniado Hospital will present, as part of the first Bildriji International Diabetes Congress to be held next month in Israel, an innovative development that allows the use of a simple blood sample (such as the one taken to donate blood to the blood bank) as a source for the development of tissue restorative products, or cells capable of To be kept as an emergency biological bank. The technology developed in collaboration with the Biogencel company, allows the patient's blood to be used as a raw material for the production of stem cells and progenitor cells that are used as tissue restorers. Additional possible developments for the technology will enable the treatment of various degenerative diseases such as stroke and dementia, which are also common complications of diabetes.

The technological platform is based on stem cells (Adult Stem Cells) with rehabilitative capacity and has a very wide medical range. The cells extracted from the blood of adults can be used by them and also to treat other people. The development of the cellular products will allow the research center to soon enter clinical trials to prove the safety and the cellular rehabilitation capabilities in patients suffering from severe complications of diabetes and at a later stage in other cardiovascular diseases.

The research center is managed by Dr. Shlomo Bulvik, and the stem cell research unit team led by Dr. Yael Porat includes Dr. Hana Weiss, Dr. Michal Perl-Yefa, and Florina Weisbin. "Our vision speaks of immediate treatment for incurable patients and at the same time developing the ability to preserve cells from the blood for decades to be used in a personal biological bank for an emergency," says Dr. Porat, who emphasizes that the development of the products, which include a syringe containing a suspension of cells that originates from the patient and is ready to be injected into the patient, and Freezing, in which cells are kept in liquid nitrogen refrigeration as a biological bank for an emergency, is done at a high level while ensuring the safety of the product and its compliance with the requirements of the regulatory authorities in Europe and the USA.

The research center works in collaboration with the team of specialist doctors from Laniado Hospital, Dr. Galit Sivak, director of the vascular and trauma unit, and Dr. Mark Niven, director of the endocrinology and diabetes unit at the Bildriji Diabetes Center to build a development plan that will suit the medical needs of the patients. In the future, the research center intends to cooperate in diverse clinical trials with the aim of leveraging academic research to improve and expand the range of treatments that the hospital can offer.

The first Bildriji International Diabetes Congress, which will be held in Israel in December 2009, will deal with the application of innovations in research and medical knowledge in day-to-day practice in the field of diabetes. The Congress, initiated by the Bildriji Diabetes Center at Laniado Hospital, is intended for medical professionals, health service managers as well as researchers in the field of diabetes and pharmaceuticals. It was first held with the support of the American Academy of Clinical Endocrinologists.
Conference site