MRI finds early signs of disease

In humans, type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed only after the immune system has already destroyed many insulin-producing pancreatic cells. Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center and Massachusetts General Hospital recently used a new imaging process to locate an early marker of the disease in laboratory animals, and they hope that the finding will soon be transferable to people. Early in the disease's attack, white blood cells cause inflammation in clusters of pancreatic cells called islets, causing tiny adjacent blood vessels to leak. In a study published in the Aug. 24 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists found that they could spot that leaking using an MRI process. They injected laboratory animals with nanoparticles that contained magnetic crystals easily tracked by an MRI. Researchers then watched how much of this substance leaked out of the blood vessels into the pancreas. "The technology might someday be used in individuals who are genetically at risk for diabetes to detect this autoimmune process in its earliest stages," Joslin researcher Dr. Christophe Benoist stated in a press release.