Islet transplantation for the treatment of autoimmune diabetes is more difficult because of the additional barrier presented by the autoimmunity. We tested the ability of hamster anti-rat CD154 to prevent recurrence of diabetes in renal subcapsular islet isografts in DR-BB (RT1uu) rats with established autoimmune diabetes. Experimental animals with established diabetes received intravenous inje...

Islet transplantation can eliminate severe hypoglycemic episodes in patients with type 1 diabetes; however, whether intrahepatic islets respond appropriately to hypoglycemia after transplantation has not been fully studied. We evaluated six islet transplant recipients, six type 1 diabetic subjects, and seven nondiabetic control subjects using a stepped hyperinsulinemic-hypoglycemic clamp. Also,...

Intrahepatic islet transplantation provides a potentially more benign alternative to pancreatic transplantation. However, islet transplants are associated with limited engraftment potential. This inefficiency is likely at least partially attributable to the isolation process, which removes islets from their native environment. Isolation not only disrupts the internal vascularization and innerva...

The dog model has served as the primary method for early development of many diabetes therapies, including pancreatic islet transplantation techniques and immunosuppressive protocols. Recent trends towards the use of monoclonal antibody therapies for immunosuppression in human islet transplantation have led to the increasing use of primate models with induced diabetes. In addition to induced-di...

We report the long-term follow-up of the efficacy and safety of islet transplantation in seven type 1 diabetic subjects from the United States enrolled in the multicenter international Edmonton Protocol who had persistent islet function after completion of the Edmonton Protocol. Subjects were followed up to 12 years with serial testing for sustained islet allograft function as measured by C-pep...

OBJECTIVE Type 1 diabetes is an incurable chronic autoimmune disease. Although transplantation of pancreatic islets may serve as a surrogate source of insulin, recipients are subjected to a life of immunosuppression. Interleukin (IL)-21 is necessary for type 1 diabetes in NOD mice. We examined the efficacy of an IL-21-targeted therapy on prevention of diabetes in NOD mice, in combination with s...

BACKGROUND This report summarizes the primary efficacy and the safety outcomes of islet transplantation reported to the NIDDK and JDRF funded Collaborative Islet Transplant Registry (CITR), currently the most comprehensive collection of human-to-human islet transplant data. METHODS CITR collects and monitors comprehensive data on allogeneic islet transplantation in North America, Europe, and ...

INTRODUCTION Oxidative stress contributes to delayed graft function (DGF). Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are polymorphic genes which produce enzymes with protective effect against oxidative stress. This study aimed to investigate the association between donors' and recipients' GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms and DGF, creatinine clearance, and oxidative stress parameters in kidney allograft re...

BACKGROUND Registry data on patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus who undergo pancreatic islet transplantation indicate that only 8 percent are free of the need for insulin therapy at one year. METHODS Seven consecutive patients with type 1 diabetes and a history of severe hypoglycemia and metabolic instability underwent islet transplantation in conjunction with a glucocorticoid-free immunos...

BACK GROUND Overt and subtle iron overload cause diabetes by lowering insulin production and promoting insulin resistance. Via divalent metal transporters pancreatic beta cells take up non-transferrin-bound iron which by catalyzing Fenton reaction can cause oxidative stress. Due to their strict dependence on mitochondrial glucose metabolism and limited antioxidant capacity, beta cells are exqui...