Department of Surgery, Surgical-Medical Research Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Islet transplantation has been shown to be a viable option for
treating patients with type 1 diabetes. However, widespread
clinical application of this treatment will necessitate an alternative
source of insulin-producing tissue. Porcine pancreata may be
a potential source of islets since pigs are inexpensive, readily
available, and exhibit morphological and physiological characteristics
comparable to humans. Recently, we developed a simple, standardized
procedure for isolating large composition. Following nine days
of
in vitro culture, tissue from one neonatal pig pancreas yielded
approximately 50,000 islet cell aggregates, consisting of primarily
epithelial cells (57%) and pancreatic endocrine cells (35%).
In addition, neonatal porcine islets were responsive to glucose
challenge in vitro and were capable of correcting hyperglycemia
in alloxan-induced diabetic nude mice. Although neonatal porcine
islets constitute an attractive alternative source of insulin-producing
tissue for clinical transplantation, many aspects such as the
immunological responses to these tissue and the latent period
(2 to 8 weeks) between transplantation of these islets and the
reversal of hyperglycemia need further investigation. This article
discusses these issues and presents possible solutions to problems
that may hinder the potential application of neonatal porcine
islets for transplantation into patients with type 1 diabetes.
