Islet allotransplantation to streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Effects of multistrain donation and ultraviolet light irradiation.
It has previously been suggested that rejection after islet transplantation in mice is prevented by using a small amount of islet tissue from several donor animals of different strains. Furthermore, it has been suggested that ultraviolet light (UV) irradiation of islet grafts prevents rejection. We therefore studied whether islet allotransplantation in the rat could be improved by using islets from donor rats of several different strains or by using UV-irradiated islets. We found that Sprague-Dawley rats transplanted with 1,000 Wistar rat islets 2 days after streptozotocin (70 mg/kg, i.v.) remained normoglycemic for only 8 +/- 1 days. The same poor result was obtained when the diabetic rats were transplanted with islets collected from donor rats of four different strains, also when only 100 islets from each donor rat were used in combination with short-term insulin treatment. In contrast, streptozotocin-diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats isotransplanted with either 1,000 islets or with 400 islets combined with a short-term insulin treatment remained normoglycemic for more than 3 months. Furthermore, rats allotransplanted with 400 UV-irradiated islets and also treated with ciclosporin remained normoglycemic for 30 +/- 3 days, whereas those transplanted either with 400 UV-irradiated islets without ciclosporin treatment or with 400 nonirradiated islets with ciclosporin treatment did not reach normoglycemia. We conclude that, in rats, multistrain islet donation is not efficient and that UV irradiation of islets does not result in long-term benefits.
Ar'Rajab
A
A
Department of Surgery, Lund University, Sweden.
Bengmark
S
S
Ahrén
B
B
D000818:Animals; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000601:surgery*; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000032:analysis; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000528:radiation effects*; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II