Lessons from in vitro perifusion of pancreatic islets isolated from 80 human pancreases

We report the average insulin response to acute glucose measured by in vitr o perifusion of pancreatic islets isolated from 80 consecutive human organs . Different perifusion parameters were considered [basal release, stimulati on index (SI), time to peak, incremental area under the curve Delta-AUCa)], and the correlation among them was determined. SI positively correlated wi th Delta-AUCa (p < 0.001, r = 0.80) while negatively with time to peak (p < 0.05, r = -0.23). We also evaluated several variables of the isolation pro cedure that might affect responsiveness to glucose by human islets. Sex and age of pancreas donors, cold ischemia time, duration of the digestion, col lagenase concentration, and lot characteristics (collagenase, trypsin, clos tripain, and proteases activity), and final islet yield were considered. Mu ltivariate regression analysis showed only an independent association betwe en SI and the concentration of collagenase (p = 0.01).