Neonatal pig pancreata as a source of insulin‐producing tissue for xenotransplantation

Abstract

Abstract: Islet transplantation has been proven as a viable option for treating type 1 diabetics; however, widespread clinical application of this technique will necessitate an alternative source of insulin‐producing tissue. Porcine pancreata may be a potential source of islets, but adult porcine islets are difficult to isolate, are fragile, and have a tendency to fall apart during culture. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of preparing functionally viable islet cells in large quantities from the neonatal pig pancreas. Following collagenase digestion and 7 days of tissue culture, a mean of 48,000 neonatal islet cell (NIC) aggregates were recovered per pancreas. These NICs were responsive to glucose in vitro and were capable of correcting hyperglycemia in alloxan‐induced diabetic nude mice. These results indicate that the neonatal porcine pancreas can be used to produce large numbers of functionally viable islet cells.