TREATMENT OF DIABETES BY XENOGENEIC ISLETS WITHOUT IMMUNOSUPPRESSION - USE OF A VASCULARIZED BIOARTIFICIAL PANCREAS

Tight glycemic control by intensive insulin therapy effectively delays the onset and slows the progression of diabetic complications but is associated with frequent dose adjustments and a high incidence of hypo glycemia. Successful pancreas transplantation corrects abnormal glucos e metabolism but subjects patients to morbidity and mortality associat ed with chronic immunosuppression. A vascularized artificial pancreas device containing pancreatic islets is designed to provide glycemic co ntrol without immunosuppression. We report here that devices seeded wi th porcine islets implanted into pancreatectomized severely diabetic d ogs maintained a marked improvement in glycemic control with reduced e xogenous insulin requirements for up to 9 months with improved glucose tolerance and a reduction in glycosylated hemoglobin levels. No immun osuppression was used. Thus, use of a vascularized artificial pancreas containing xenogeneic porcine islets could be an alternative to inten sive insulin therapy and pancreatic transplantation in treating diabet ic patients before the development of severe diabetic complications.