Successful single donor islet allotransplantation in the streptozotocin diabetes rat model

The objective of this study was to define pretransplant islet culture conditions for optimum tissue engraftment in the rat islet allotransplantation model. Lewis rat islets were cultured in TCM 199/5% fetal calf serum for I day at 37 degrees C, followed by 1 day of culture at 22 degrees C. When islets from single donors were allotransplanted intraportally into single streptozotocin-diabetic Wistar-Furth rats, complete normoglycemia was restored within 1 day after transplantation in seven out of seven rats, and persisted up to immunological rejection about 1 week later. In five out of six rats receiving a posttransplant injection of antilymphocyte serum, plasma glucose was normalized for >100 days. These data demonstrate, for the first time, successful single-donor-to-single-recipient transplantation of allogeneic rat pancreatic islets. Because islet engraftment may still be regarded as a main problem for clinical islet transplantation, the pretransplant islet culture regimen outlined in this article may lead to a more efficient use of donor pancreatic islet tissue in the clinical setting, as well.