Abstract
The primary objective of islet transplantation is to transplant sufficient quantities of normal, functional islet tissue in to Type 1, IDDM patients to achieve normal metabolic function without insulin therapy sufficiently early in their disease to prevent their complications while avoiding the use of tong-term immunosuppress ion and autoimmune recurrence. A total of 14 patients with kidney transplants have reached insulin independence after islet transplantation using immunosuppression with the longest at 30 months. Many others have had partial islet function in clinical trials. Immunoalteration studies in which islets are altered in vitro prior to transplantation to eliminate donor immune cells that cause rejection have succeeded in rodent studies. Immunoisolation studies in which islets are encapsulated with specific biocompatible membranes and transplanted without immunosuppression are also showing promise in animals and beginning in human studies. These kinds of approaches will be necessary to make this potential therapy a practical approach for the patient with diabetes.
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Scharp, D. DESIGN AND USE OF CELLULAR IMPLANTS FOR TREATMENT OF DIABETES (IDDM). Pediatr Res 33 (Suppl 5), S4 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199305001-00013
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199305001-00013