title: Biohybrid artificial pancreas. Long-term function of discordant islet xenografts in streptozotocin diabetic rats.
abstract: Long-term function of canine, bovine, and porcine islet xenografts implanted in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats has been achieved by islet encapsulation within permselective acrylic membrane chambers. Intraperitoneal implants of 1 x 10(4) (n = 11) or 2 x 10(4) (n = 2) encapsulated canine islets reversed the diabetic state of the recipients within 24 hr, with plasma glucose levels dropping from a preimplantation level of 480 +/- 26 (mean +/- SEM) to 97 +/- 4 mg/dl during the first month. Chambers from 2 of the animals were removed, bisected, and reimplanted at 1 week and 2 months; both animals reverted to hyperglycemia (glucose, > 200 mg/dl) in < 2 weeks. The remaining implants maintained function for a mean time of 138 +/- 16 days, whereas the 2 animals that received the higher islet dose maintained function for > 260 days. Membranes containing 2 x 10(4) bovine (n = 6) or porcine (n = 10) islets also normalized glucose concentrations, with plasma glucose levels dropping from 468 +/- 61 to 91 +/- 10 (bovine) and 97 +/- 11 (porcine) mg/dl during the first month (vs. 94 +/- 3 mg/dl for nondiabetic control rats). Three of the latter implants were removed at 1 month. All 3 animals promptly reverted to diabetes. The 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month graft survival rates for the remaining animals were 100%, 100%, 60%, and 40%, and 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25%, respectively. The transplant recipients showed an approximately 38-54% gain in body weight during the first 100 days after implantation, compared with < 1% (P < 0.001) and 86% (P < 0.001) for the untreated diabetic (n = 5) and normal control (n = 6) groups. Immunohistochemical staining of long-term grafts (1-20 months) revealed varying degrees of alpha-, beta-, and delta-cell granulation; the external membrane surfaces were generally free of fibrotic overgrowth and exhibited only occasional host cell adherence. Despite a problem of membrane breakage in long-term implants, these results suggest that prolonged survival of discordant transplants of porcine, bovine, and canine islets in diabetic rats can be achieved without immunosuppression.
authors.affiliation: BioHybrid Technologies Inc., Shrewsbury, Massachusetts 01545.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Lanza
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Beyer
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Staruk
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Chick
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D002417:Cattle; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000601:surgery*; D004285:Dogs; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D000078790:Insulin Secretion; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008566:Membranes; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D013311:Streptozocin; D013552:Swine; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin; D013311:Streptozocin