Ih. Alabdullah et al., SITE FOR UNPURIFIED ISLET TRANSPLANTATION IS AN IMPORTANT PARAMETER FOR DETERMINATION OF THE OUTCOME OF GRAFT-SURVIVAL AND FUNCTION, Cell transplantation, 4(3), 1995, pp. 297-305
Transplantation of unpurified islets into the liver, unlike that of pu
rified islets, causes portal hypertension and coagulopathy. The aim of
this project was to determine the most suitable alternative site for
transplantation of purified pancreatic islets in autotransplanted dogs
. Twenty-five female mongrel dogs were divided into 5 groups depending
on the site of islet transplantation: liver (3), spleen (7), skeletal
muscle (5), omental pouch (6), and renal subcapsule (4). Pancreatic d
igestion of the total pancreatectomized specimen was carried out by di
stension of the pancreas with 1.5 mg/mL collagenase suspended in 250 m
L Hanks' balanced salt solution using a semiautomatic method. The tota
l number of islets equivalent isolated from 25 dogs was 90948 +/- 6053
. Only islets > 60 mu m in diameter were counted, and the mean islet e
quivalent transplanted per kg body wt was 6762 +/- 429. Islet function
was achieved with transplantation into spleen in 71%, omental pouch i
n 50%, and muscle in 20%, but none in the renal subcapsule or liver gr
oups. Glucose tolerance test at 30 d showed a mean K Value (decline in
glucose, %/min) of 1.94 +/- 0.73, 0.79 +/- 0.15 and 1.02 in the splen
ic, omental pouch and muscle groups, respectively. All animals in the
liver groups, 2 from the splenic group, and 2 from the renal subcapsul
e group died of diffuse bleeding. Four out of 5 dogs in the muscle gro
up developed necrosis at the site of transplantation and the islets ne
ver functioned. This study demonstrates that in dogs, spleen and oment
al pouch appear to be suitable sites for transplantation of unpurified
islets.