Diabetes, Vol 45, Issue 12 1814-1821, Copyright © 1996 by American Diabetes Association
Long-term metabolic control by rat islet grafts depends on the composition of the implant
B Keymeulen, G Korbutt, M De Paepe, F Gorus, G Kloppel and DG Pipeleers
Diabetes Research Center, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
This study examines whether the loss of metabolic control in initially
normalized islet transplants can result from the inadequate composition of
the donor tissue. Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were followed for 64
weeks after the intraportal injection of islet isografts with different
composition. The implantation of 2.3 million beta-cells (10(7)/kg body wt)
as particles (>100 microm diameter) of primarily insulin-positive (70%)
and glucagon-positive (20%) cells succeeded in a long-term normalization of
2-h fasting glycemia, glucose tolerance, and serum fructosamine. The same
metabolic control was achieved in animals with short and long durations of
diabetes or when grafts were implanted under the kidney capsule. At
posttransplantation (PT) week 64, insulin reserves were 60% lower than
those in age-matched controls, which may account for the glucose
intolerance in a few old recipients. The same type of graft containing 0.7
million beta-cells (4 x 10(6)/kg body wt) corrected these metabolic
parameters for more than 12 weeks; the proportionally lower insulin
reserves were sufficient for the long-term correction of 2-h fasting
glycemia, but did not avoid glucose intolerance in older recipients. When
the higher beta-cells number (10(7)/kg body wt) was injected as smaller
particles (<100 mpm diameter) of lower purity (55% insulin-positive) and
negligible glucagon content (<5% glucagon-positive), the metabolic
parameters were also corrected for 12 weeks PT but then progressively
returned to overt diabetes (6 of 10) or glucose intolerance (4 of 10). We
concluded that long-term metabolic normalization can be achieved by islet
implants in the liver or under the kidney capsule. The loss of metabolic
control in older animals can be caused by the inadequate composition of the
graft, with the number of beta-cells, the proportion of other endocrine and
nonendocrine cells, and the particle size as influential variables.