Evaluation of Wedged Arterial Injection as a New Technique for Delivery of Experimental Therapeutic Sustances into the Porcine Pancreas

OBJECTIVES To prospectively evaluate the technical feasibility and efficacy of wedged arterial injection (WAI) as a potential route for experimental selective therapy to the pancreas of healthy pigs. MATERIALS AND METHODS Selective angiographies were completed in ten pigs under general anaesthesia. By superselective angiography, the catheter was inserted and wedged into the major pancreatic artery, blocking the blood flow. In order to evaluate the efficacy of the WAI method, a DNA-specific fluorescent dye (Hoechst 33258) was used. RESULTS Histological study revealed a uniform distribution of the fluorescent dye within the nuclei of the endocrine and exocrine pancreatic cells. Pancreatic and liver enzymes as well as histopathology of the pancreas were normal. CONCLUSION WAI is a highly effective minimally invasive methodology to target the porcine pancreas. The findings suggest that WAI may contribute to developing preclinical assays of pancreas gene or cell-transfer therapies in swine model.