Purpose Of Review: There is considerable interest in using macroencapsulation devices as a delivery strategy for transplanting insulin-producing cells. This review aims to summarize recent advances, to highlight remaining challenges, and to provide recommendations for the field.
Recent Findings: A variety of new device designs have been reported to improve biocompatibility and to provide protection for islet/beta cells from immune destruction while allowing continuous secretion of insulin. Some of these new approaches are in clinical trials, but more research is needed to determine how sufficient beta-cell mass can be transplanted in a clinically applicable device size, and that insulin is secreted with kinetics that will safely provide adequate controls of glucose levels. Macroencapsulation is a potential solution to transplant beta cells without immunosuppression in diabetes patients, but new strategies must be developed to show that this approach is feasible.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11892-018-1028-y | DOI Listing |
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