MRI of the Pancreas in T1DM
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Pancreas in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus with Ultrasmall Super-paramagnetic Particles of Iron Oxide: A Prospective Case-Controlled Study.
IRAS ID
168283
Contact name
David Lilburn
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 0 days
Research summary
Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is caused by inflammation (an immune reaction) in the pancreas (an organ within the abdomen) where there is destruction of the insulin producing ß-cells. This process results in patients with T1DM being unable to maintain normal blood glucose (sugar) levels with sufferers needing to administer injections of insulin several times per day. However, even with the best possible management T1DM sufferers are still at risk of life-threatening acute events such as low blood sugar levels. Sufferers are also at a greatly increased risk of heart disease, stroke and problems with the circulation causing ulcers and often resulting in limb amputations. It is therefore a current aim of diabetes research to try to maintain the insulin producing ß-cells within the body rather than just replacing insulin by injections. To date there has been little research into this inflammatory process causing the destruction of the ß-cells in humans as current tests are either very invasive or do not detect significant changes within the pancreas. The aim of this research is to study the active inflammation within the pancreas in newly diagnosed T1DM patients by the non-invasive imaging method of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using existing MRI techniques and a relatively new MRI contrast agent called ultra-small paramagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) particles, which make detecting the inflammation easier. It is hoped from this study that we will be able to further understand the steps that lead to the development of T1DM better and that this will help with the development of new approaches to treating this disease and limit the number of sufferers developing serious complications.
REC name
South East Scotland REC 01
REC reference
15/SS/0009
Date of REC Opinion
5 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion