title: Improved islet isolation from rat pancreas using 35% bovine serum albumin in combination with Dextran gradient separation.
abstract: We have developed a gradient separation technique in which albumin-coated (35% BSA) rat islets are isolated in Dextran (BSA/D). Versus Dextran alone (DA), BSA/D increases mean islet yield from 850 +/- 115 to 1222 +/- 210 islets/donor (mean +/- SD, P=.001). With numbers of donors held constant, the time to euglycemia was significantly shorter in syngenic recipients of BSA/D than DA islets (5.7 +/- 4.8 versus 14.2 +/- 5.6 days, P=.02). However, when the number of islets were held constant, differences in time to cure were not statistically significantly different (P>.19): with 1200 islets, 3.8 +/- 2.8 (DSA/D) versus 9.2 +/- 8.2 (DA) days; with 750 islets, 18.3 +/- 5.8 (BSA/D) versus 18.0 +/- 4.5 (DA) days. In all groups, posttransplant day 1 glucose was lowest with the BSA/D technique. Thus BSA/D isolation gives a higher yield with at least equal viability. We recommend the BSA/D technique for its efficiency and economy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Field
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farney
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Sutherland
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D002499:Centrifugation, Density Gradient; D003911:Dextrans; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000166:cytology*; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine
chemical_list: D003911:Dextrans; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine