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Researchers in a latest study successfully reversed diabetes in mice and claim that this could be applied for humans too.

The experiment which involves stem cells could be a major breakthrough in the treatment for one of the most common diseases in the world.

This is the first study ever to reveal that human stem cell transplants can successfully restore insulin production and reverse diabetes in mice, reports Mail Online.

What exactly was done by the researchers is that they re-created the 'feedback loop' which regulates the insulin levels based on blood glucose.

Once the stem cell transplant was over, the mice were not given absolutely any insulin for 3-4 months. It appeared that after 3-4 months, the mice showed healthy blood sugar levels even when they were fed large quantities of sugar.

"We are very excited by these findings, but additional research is needed before this approach can be tested clinically in humans," said lead author Timothy Kieffer, a professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada.

"The studies were performed in diabetic mice that lacked a properly functioning immune system that would otherwise have rejected the cells. We now need to identify a suitable way of protecting the cells from immune attack so that the transplant can ultimately be performed in the absence of any immunosuppression," he added.

Insufficient production of insulin by the pancreas results in Type 2 diabetes whereas in Type 1, there is no production at all.

Insulin is responsible for our body being able to store glucose in muscles, fat and liver and be used as fuel. If the level of insulin goes down in the body, it could lead to high blood sugar that raises the risk of blindness, heart attack, stroke, nerve damage and kidney failure, says the report.

For Type 1 diabetes (one which strikes children), regular injections of insulin is generally the treatment. Although experimental transplants of healthy pancreatic cells from human donors have proved effective, the treatment is extremely limited due to the difficulty in availability of donors, says the report.

The study was published online in the journal Diabetes and was co-authored by scientists from the New Jersey-based BetaLogics, a division of Janssen Research & Development.