Effects of donor-, pancreas-, and isolation-related variables on human islet isolation outcome: a systematic review.

Different factors have been reported to influence islet isolation outcome, but their importance varies between studies and are hampered by the small sample sizes in most studies. The purpose of this study was to perform a systematic review to assess the impact of donor-, pancreas-, and isolation-related variables on successful human islet isolation outcome. PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched electronically in April 2009.

Morphological changes of porcine islets of Langerhans after collagenase and HBSS infusion of the pancreas.

Background: A remarkable change in porcine islet morphology was observed after infusion of the pancreas with collagenase. The aim of the present study was to quantify these morphological changes and to assess whether these changes were due to the volume expansion caused by the collagenase entering the islet or the result of its digestive effects.

Methods: This study was performed in pancreata of 28 crossbred pigs.

Porcine islet isolation outcome is not affected by the amount and distribution of collagen in the pancreas.

Variable islet yields in porcine islet isolation may be caused by the collagen substrate within the pancreas. The aim of the present study was to determine the total amount and distribution of collagen within porcine pancreata and their relationship to islet isolation outcome. A total of 64 juvenile and 76 adult porcine pancreata of eight purebred breeds were histologically examined.

Transplantation of long-term cultured porcine islets in the rat: prolonged graft survival and recipient growth on reduced immunosuppression.

To evaluate whether further improvement in porcine islet xenotransplantation is feasible, a number of questions were addressed. Earlier we showed significant improvement in the nude mouse of the porcine islets by selection through long-term culture. Now these islets were tested in the stringent pig-to-rat model.

Pretransplant culture selects for high-quality porcine islets.

Objectives: The pig is generally considered a suitable alternative donor for clinical islet transplantation. However, adult pig islets are difficult to isolate and culture, often behave variably in in vitro assays, and do not consistently cure diabetic nude mice. In this study, we compared the in vivo function of freshly isolated and cultured adult porcine islets by transplantation in diabetic nude mice.

Pre-transplant blood transfusion and cyclosporin A induce long-term hamster cardiac xenograft survival in immunocompetent rats.

Background: In previous studies we have shown that pre-transplant hamster blood transfusion (HBT) can induce non-responsiveness in the T cell independent immunecompartment and result in tolerance towards hamster cardiac xenografts (Xgs) in T cell deficient athymic nude rats. In this study we test the combination of pre-transplant HBT with cyclosporin A (CSA) in immunocompetent Lewis rats.

Methods: Before transplantation of a hamster cardiac Xg, 1 ml hamster blood was administered to nude rats or Lewis rats.

T-cell-specific immunosuppression results in more than 53 days survival of porcine islets of langerhans in the monkey.

Background: Transplantation of islets of Langerhans can restore insulin production in diabetic patients. Because of the shortage of human donor organs, transplantation of porcine islets may be an alternative solution. The present study was aimed at the characterization of rejection mechanisms of porcine islets transplanted into eight nondiabetic monkeys under the kidney capsule.