IMMUNOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE BIOARTIFICIA L PANCREAS

The ''bioartificial pancreas'' is a special technique of islet transpl antation, separating the transplanted tissue from the donor's immune s ystem by an artificial membrane. Thus, the necessity of a permanent im munosuppressive drug therapy may be avoided. In vivo, a significant pr olongation of the graft survival either in an allogeneic or in a xenog eneic strain combination has been shown in animals. But, islets inside the capsule are able to stimulate lymphocyte proliferation in vitro, probably dependent on the molecular cut off of the membrane. Moreover, the immunological interaction between the capsule material and the re cipient (biocompatibility) has to be considered.