Improved method of porcine pancreas procurement with arterial flush and ductal injection enhances islet isolation outcome.
BACKGROUND
Several pancreas procurement procedures have been used for porcine islet isolation; however, their impact on outcomes has not been extensively studied. We evaluated an advanced procurement technique for porcine islet isolation designed to reduce warm ischemia, to remove blood content, and enhance cooling of the pancreas by implementing a vascular flush and ductal preservation.


METHODS
Pancreata procured from adult Landrace pigs were divided into 3 different surgical protocols: Pancreatectomy utilizing only surface cooling (group 1; n = 24); surface cooling and ductal injection with cold preservation solution before pancreatectomy (group 2; n = 12); or surface cooling, ductal injection, and an approach by selectively flushing through the celiac trunk and the superior mesenteric artery (group 3; n = 14). We assessed the islet isolation results and quality using in vitro and in vivo assays.


RESULTS
Significantly higher overall yield and islet yield per gram pancreas were obtained from group 3 pigs compared with the other groups. Measurements of islet viability after 7 days of culture, as assessed by oxygen consumption rate per DNA, showed that group 3 islets displayed the highest values. Sustained normoglycemia was observed in diabetic nude mice transplanted with 2000 islet equivalents from all 3 groups.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that an advanced pancreas procurement technique including ductal preservation and selective arterial flush with cold preservation solution provided significant improvements in porcine islet isolation outcomes.
Anazawa
T
T
Schulze Diabetes Institute, Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
Balamurugan
A N
AN
Papas
K K
KK
Avgoustiniatos
E S
ES
Ferrer
J
J
Matsumoto
S
S
Sutherland
D E R
DE
Hering
B J
BJ
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods; D002470:Cell Survival; D003643:Death; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D019188:Organ Preservation Solutions; D009929:Organ Size; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010179:Pancreas / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000098:blood supply / Q000166:cytology; D010180:Pancreatectomy / Q000379:methods; D013552:Swine; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous
D019188:Organ Preservation Solutions