EC Microbiology

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases where insulin is either deficient in quantity, or its action is resisted by target organs. Broadly, it is classified as type 1, type 2, gestational diabetes, and other less common ones like monogenic diabetes. It affects millions of people around the world of all age groups and is a major cause of mortality among humans. This review briefly discusses the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and conventional treatment, while focusing more on emerging modalities of management.

Aim of Work: The aim of this study is to review the fundamentals of diabetes mellitus and novel methods of treatment.

Materials and Methods: Comprehensive research of diabetes mellitus and novel methods of treatment. PUBMED search engine was the mainly used database for the search process, articles collected from the year 2000 to 2022 relating to diabetes mellitus treatment. The term used in the search were: Diabetes mellitus, gestational diabetes, insulin, beta cells, gene therapy, transdifferentiation, stem cells, iPSC.

Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders that disrupt the homeostasis of insulin and glucose in the blood. It affects up to a tenth of the adult human population and is responsible for millions of death worldwide each year. Broadly, it is classified as type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes, with each one having different etiopathogenesis from the other. Conventional treatments with insulin injections and oral hypoglycemic drugs have been in use for a while, but newer research into genetic engineering, transdifferentiation, and stem cell therapy is offering novel methods of managing this disease.

Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus; Gestational Diabetes; Insulin; Beta Cells; Gene Therapy; Transdifferentiation; Stem Cells; iPSC

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