title: Is islet transplantation ready for widespread use in diabetes?
abstract: Up till 2000 when Edmonton group introduced islet transplant procedure in conjunction with a novel glucocorticoid-free immunosuppressive regimen rendering 100% (n=7) of patients with type 1 diabetes insulin-independent for at least 1 year, islet transplant was taken into the clinic. Although significant progress in clinical islet transplant has occurred during recent years, challenges remain, including shortage of available donor organs, technical aspects of islet preparation and transplantation, immunological rejection post-transplant, unclear long-term outcomes of islet transplantation. Special attention is given to current limitation in islet transplantation together with new possible strategies that raise expectations for the widespread use of islet transplantation in the future.
authors.affiliation: Organ Transplantation Institute, Fuzhou General Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian 350025, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qing-hua
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Jian-ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation / Q000276:immunology* / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents