Islet cryopreservation: improved recovery following taurine pretreatment

Simple and efficient freezing methods with maximal postthawing recovery form the basis of ideal cryopreservation. Taurine (2-amino ethanesulfonic acid), an end-product of sulphur amino acid metabolism, is one of the most abundant free amino acids in the body. The membrane stabilizing, free radical scavenging, and osmoregulatory roles of taurine have been well documented. We studied the effect of physiological and supra-physiological concentrations (0.3 and 3.0 mM) of taurine on islet cryopreservation. Islet viability on cryopreservation was significantly improved in both the taurine-treated groups (91.9 +/- 2.3% in 0.3 mM and 94.6 +/- 1.58% in 3.0 mM group, p < 0.05) compared with the controls (85.7 +/- 3.4%). Loss of peripheral islet cells was highly reduced in the taurine group, as examined under phase contrast and quantified by islet morphometric analysis (p < 0.05) using a digital image analysis system. Taurine-treated islets showed significant reduction in lipid peroxidation (0.905 and 0.848 nM MDA/microg protein for 0.3 and 3.0 mM taurine, respectively, p < 0.05) compared with control (1.307 nM MDA/microg protein) islets. In all, 500 islet equivalents (IE) of treated or control group islets were transplanted to BALB/c mice rendered diabetic with STZ. All animals showed a normal glucose clearance following a glucose load. Graft functionality was confirmed by normoglycemia (fasting plasma glucose: fpg < 150 mg/dl) after transplantation and reappearing hyperglycemia (fpg > 200 mg/dl) following removal of the graft. Suboptimal islet transplantation using 250 IE suggests that the grafted islet mass was inadequate for diabetes reversal. In addition, no significant differences were observed in the islet insulin content between the three groups following cryopreservation of the islets at -196 degrees C. Our studies indicate that taurine pretreatment and its continued presence during islet cryopreservation improves the postthawing viable recovery of islets.