Five-year follow-up of patients with type 1 diabetes transplanted with allogeneic islets: the UIC experience.

This report summarizes a 5-year phase 1/2 allogeneic islet transplantation clinical trial conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Ten patients were enrolled in this single center, open label, and prospective trial in which patients received 1-3 transplants. The first four subjects underwent islet transplantation with the Edmonton immunosuppressive regimen and the remaining six subjects received the UIC immunosuppressive protocol (Edmonton plus etanercept and exenatide).

Reduction in carotid intima-media thickness after pancreatic islet transplantation in patients with type 1 diabetes.

Objective: Determine the impact of islet transplantation on carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), a marker for atherosclerosis, in type 1 diabetes without kidney disease.

Research Design And Methods: Consecutive case series of 15 adults (mean age [SD], 49 years [10 years]; 87% female) with type 1 diabetes for ≥5 years (mean duration [SD], 30 years [12 years]; mean HbA(1c) [SD], 7.2% [0.

Islet transplantation for brittle type 1 diabetes: the UIC protocol.

This prospective phase 1/2 trial investigated the safety and reproducibility of allogeneic islet transplantation (Tx) in type I diabetic (T1DM) patients and tested a strategy to achieve insulin-independence with lower islet mass. Ten C-peptide negative T1DM subjects with hypoglycemic unawareness received 1-3 intraportal allogeneic islet Tx and were followed for 15 months. Four subjects (Group 1) received the Edmonton immunosuppression regimen (daclizumab, sirolimus, tacrolimus).

Case report: diabetic myonecrosis of the neck complicated by infection in an islet transplanted patient.

Diabetic muscle infarction, also known as diabetic myonecrosis, is an uncommon neuromuscular complication of longstanding diabetes. It usually involves the thigh or calf muscles. Patients typically present with severe pain in the affected area.

Use of low dose tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil and maintenance IL-2 receptor blockade in an islet transplant recipient.

The utilization of dual maintenance therapy with tacrolimus and sirolimus (the Edmonton protocol) has been widely adopted as standard immunosuppression for islet cell transplantation. This immunosuppression regimen has numerous toxicities including renal dysfunction, anemia, and recurrent aphthous ulcers. We present a case of a 63-yr-old Caucasian female who received an isolated islet transplant.

A case of pancreatic islet cell transplantation in a patient with situs ambiguous: anatomical and radiological considerations.

Pancreatic islet cell transplantation is an evolving treatment of severe, refractory type 1 diabetes that has been gaining more use, particularly after one year rates of insulin independence post-transplantation were found to approach 80% under the Edmonton protocol. Islet cell transplantation involves percutaneous delivery of harvested allogeneic β cells into the portal venous circulation for implantation into the liver. We present the case of a 35-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes and situs ambiguous with left isomerism and resultant variant anatomy of her portal venous anatomy who underwent islet cell transplantation, which, to our knowledge, has not been previously reported.

Clinical relapse in systemic lupus erythematosus: correlation with antecedent elevation of urinary free light-chain immunoglobulin.

This paper reports preliminary evidence suggesting that measurements of free light-chain Ig (FLIg) in urine may represent quantitative markers of in vivo polyclonal B-cell activation. Thus, longitudinal levels of urinary FLIg in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may be used to track or monitor the in vivo immunopathologic B-cell activity of SLE and be helpful in predicting a disease relapse. Our findings showed that dramatic rises in urinary FLIg occurred during asymptomatic intervals that preceded by 4-8 weeks the first symptomatic signs of acute SLE relapse.