Optimization of culture conditions for the preservation of monkey pancreatic islets in culture

Culturing of islets is essential for various purposes before transplantatio n. It is necessary to establish optimal culture conditions for each animal species for their preservation in culture. In this study, attempts were mad e to preserve the Indian bonnet monkey islets in culture. The islets were i solated from monkey pancreas by the collagenase digestion method. They were separated from acinar cells by dextran density-gradient centrifugation. Th ey were preserved in a humidified atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide and 95% a ir for 7 days. The culture medium used was RPMI-1640. Various optimal condi tions such as volume of the culture medium used, number of islets in one cu lture dish, concentration of glucose in culture medium, and fetal calf seru m percentage were tested for their better preservation in culture. After th e culture period, they were tested for their insulin secretory capacity by exposing them to various secretagogues. Histologic appearance of the cultur ed islets also was examined. Both insulin secretory characteristics and his tologic structure were found to be normal.