A comparison of islet transplantation and subcutaneous insulin injections for the treatment of diabetes mellitus.
Transplantation of the islets of Langerhans has received considerable attention as a means of treating insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. However, the number of islets needed and the level of plasma glucose control that results from this treatment method still needs to be defined. A pharmacokinetic model of glucose and insulin dynamics which includes the islet insulin response to plasma glucose is used to compare the effectiveness of subcutaneous insulin injections and transplanted islets of Langerhans for the treatment of a hypothetical patient with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. For a patient receiving 60 U of insulin per day the results show that 500,000 human islets would be needed to obtain glucose control comparable to that obtained with insulin injections and at least 1.5 million human islets are needed to obtain normoglycemia.
Smith
B
B
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Toledo, OH 43606.
Sarver
J G
JG
Fournier
R L
RL
D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D007332:Insulin Infusion Systems; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats
D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin