Augmenter of liver regeneration enhances the success rate of fetal pancreas transplantation in rodents.
BACKGROUND
Treatment of fetal pancreas (FP) isografts with insulin-like growth factor-I greatly improves the rate of conversion to euglycemia in diabetic rats. Complete knowledge of other factors that may facilitate the engraftment and function of FP in vivo is still embryonic. Augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR) is a newly described polypeptide growth factor found in weanling rat livers. ALR has trophic effects on regenerating liver. We studied the effects of in situ administration of this agent on FP isografts in rats.


METHODS
Streptozotocin-diabetic Lewis rats (blood glucose > 300 mg/dl) received 16 FP isografts transplanted intramuscularly. ALR was delivered from day 1 through day 14, in doses of 40 or 400 ng/kg/d. Animals were followed for 3 months with serial weights and blood glucose monitoring. These animals were compared with those treated with vehicle alone.


RESULTS
Of the group treated with ALR at 40 ng/kg/day for 14 days, 89% (eight of nine) were euglycemic (P=0.0003). Of the group treated with ALR at 400 ng/kg/day for 14 days, 88% (seven of eight) were euglycemic (P=0.0007). Of the group treated with vehicle alone, none of the six were euglycemic. Euglycemia is defined here as glucose < 200 mg/dl for 3 days. Pathology of the intramuscular transplant site showed patches of islet tissue embedded in fat. These patches demonstrated insulin immunoreactivity.


CONCLUSIONS
Diabetes was reversed in a significantly greater proportion of FP + ALR-treated recipients than those animals treated with vehicle alone. Local delivery of growth factors may be used as an adjunct to FP transplantation to improve the rate of success. This in situ model may be useful to further evaluate other soluble factors.
Adams
G A
GA
Department of Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center, California 94305, USA.
Maestri
M
M
Squiers
E C
EC
Alfrey
E J
EJ
Starzl
T E
TE
Dafoe
D C
DC
D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000494:pharmacology; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation; D008115:Liver Regeneration; D010179:Pancreas / Q000196:embryology* / Q000473:pathology; D011506:Proteins; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D050862:Oxidoreductases Acting on Sulfur Group Donors
D001786:Blood Glucose; D006133:Growth Substances; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D011506:Proteins; C088825:GFER protein, rat; D050862:Oxidoreductases Acting on Sulfur Group Donors