Optimal temperature in pancreas preservation by the two-layer cold storage method before islet isolation

Abstract

COLD organ storage is based on the effect of hypothermia, which is basically used to reduce the metabolism at low temperatures. However, the low temperature itself may be deleterious to the cell membrane during organ preservation. The two-layer cold storage method (TL), which employs UW solution (UW) and perfluorochemical (PFC), has been demonstrated to be superior to simple UW storage and to be feasible for pancreas preservation before islet isolation using a canine model. It has been clarified that a pancreas graft is directly oxygenated with PFC during preservation by TL and maintains high tissue ATP level, which keeps cellular integrity. Because ATP synthesis in TL is an enzymatic reaction, it seems likely that increasing temperature makes ATP synthesis faster and decreases the damage of the cell membrane due to the low temperature during storage by TL. The aim of this study is to determine the optimal temperature for TL in pancreas preservation before islet isolation.