Current status of clinical islet transplantation.
Islet transplantation is currently being explored as a treatment for patients with type 1 diabetes. At present, the number of patients becoming insulin-independent is rapidly increasing world-wide applying the transplantation protocol originally described by the group in Edmonton. A hallmark in this procedure is repeated infusions of islets obtained from 2 to 4 donors until normoglycemia is achieved. In order to establish islet transplantation as a widely accepted treatment modality, and make tolerance induction regimes applicable, it is essential that the donor:recipient ratio is brought down to 1:1. A conceivable strategy to achieve this goal in clinical islet transplantation is discussed.
Korsgren
Olle
O
Department of Radiology, Oncology and Clinical Immunology, Division of Clinical Immunology, The Rudbeck Laboratory, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden. Olle.Korsgren@klinimm.uu.se
Nilsson
B
B
Berne
C
C
Felldin
M
M
Foss
A
A
Kallen
R
R
Lundgren
T
T
Salmela
K
K
Tibell
A
A
Tufveson
G
G
D000818:Animals; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000601:surgery*; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation / Q000276:immunology / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D016896:Treatment Outcome