Long-term follow-up for the microbiological safety of clinical microencapsulated neonatal porcine islet transplantation.

Enrollment in three clinical trials for microencapsulated neonatal porcine islet xenotransplantation to treat unstable type 1 diabetic patients concluded in November 2014. In this study, we report a long-term follow-up assessment of microbiological safety for these trials. Thirty-eight type 1 diabetic patients received microencapsulated neonatal porcine islet transplants.

Level of acceptance of islet cell and kidney xenotransplants by personnel of hospitals with and without experience in clinical xenotransplantation.

Background: Recently, significant progress in both safety and efficacy has been achieved in the field of xenotransplantation, as exemplified by results from the first clinical trials of porcine islet transplantation. It would be of interest to learn whether the attitude of the clinical staff involved in such trials changes as the trials are carried out in their own hospital.

Methods: One hundred and four clinical staff members from the Eva Peron Hospital of San Martin (Buenos Aires, Argentina) where clinical trials of islet xenotransplantation have been performed and 92 similar staff members from the Diego Thompson Hospital (Buenos Aires, Argentina) where no such xenotransplantation has been carried out participated in the study.

Clinical Benefit of Islet Xenotransplantation for the Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes.

Background: Allogeneic islet transplantation has become a viable option for the treatment of unstable type 1 diabetes. However, the donor shortage and the necessity of the immunosuppressive drugs are two major issues. To solve these issues, we performed islet xenotransplantation using encapsulated neonatal porcine islets without immunosuppressive drugs.

Pig islet xenotransplantation acceptance in a Latin-American diabetic population.

Progress in porcine islet xenotransplantation has been accompanied by studies on acceptance of this new procedure by patients, health professionals or the general public. Such studies have not been done in the Latin-American population. We conducted a questionnaire in 108 diabetes patients (insulin-dependent, n = 53; insulin-independent, n = 55) in a public hospital in Argentina.