[Changes in the C-peptide concentration in the blood of patients with diabetes mellitus after the transplantation of cultures of pancreatic islet cells].

The time course of the blood level of C-peptide was studied in 20 patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in the course of 1 year after human fetal pancreatic islet cell allotransplantation. All the recipients suffered from a labile type of diabetes complicated by polyneuropathy, glomerulosclerosis and progressive retinopathy. C-peptide concentration was determined by a radioimmunoassay using Behring-Werke AE kits (FRG). The recipient were divided into 3 groups with relation to the preoperative level of C-peptidemia (with a low level 0.17 +/- 0.06 ng/ml, a mean level 0.9 +/- 0.11 ng/ml and a high level 3.07 +/- 0.24 ng/ml). One-two days before cell culture allotransplantation the mean concentration of C-peptide was 0.3 +/- 0.02 ng/ml. One-two weeks after transplantation it rose up to 0.89 +/- 0.11 ng/ml (p less than 0.01), by the end of the 1st month it reached 2.85 +/- 0.54 ng/ml, in 2-3 months it was lowered up to 1.98 +/- 0.21 ng/ml and remained at this level in the next months decreasing up to 1.4 +/- 0.36 ng/ml and approximated the preoperative levels by the end of the year. The same time course was noted in all 3 groups irrespective of the preoperative levels and differed in quantitative indices only. Stabilization of a course of disease, normalization of some biochemical indices, disappearance or weakening of a degree of concomitant symptoms and a decrease in an exogenous dose of insulin were noted.