It could become possible to treat type 1 diabetes in men, as US scientists say that by using stem cells from the testicle of men a treatment could be developed that by replacing damaged insulin-secreting beta islet cells would rectify the condition.

As per Associate Professor Ian Gallicano from Georgetown University in Washington DC and study's lead investigator, the results are based on spermatagonial stem cells (SSCs), which they took from the testes of demised human organ donors. The cells were then used on diabetic mice.

The researchers say that the cells work in two-step process. In the first step, the SSCs are de-differentiated so than they could be converted into embryonic-like stem cells. After two weeks of this step, the cells are provided specific nutrients so that they could grow into beta islet-like cells and the step takes three weeks.

After following these two steps, there was seen decline in the blood sugar levels in three mice for up to a week

"One reason that the mouse work hasn't translated into human benefit is that there are currently no laboratory-derived cells that secrete enough insulin to be clinically relevant", said Gallicano. He added that the important thing to consider was not than the cells reduced glucose levels but the amount of insulin they generated to normalize blood-sugar levels