Pancreatic islet banking: The transplantation of frozen-thawed rat islets transported between centers

Abstract

This report describes the feasibility of islet banking for the purpose of transporting isolated islets from one center to another for transplantation. Adult rat islets survived freezing to −196 °C when 0.25 °C/min was used as the cooling rate, 7.5 °C/min as the warming rate, and when the hyperosmotic protective agent was carefully removed. We were able to show that islets isolated and frozen in one center and transplanted in another center returned diabetic animals to clinical normalcy (fasting normoglycemia, aglycosuria, and weight maintenance). However, as measured by a glucose tolerance test three months after transplantation, these animals had an impaired early insulin release when compared with animals who received fresh islet transplants. Diabetic animals that received islets frozen at a cooling rate of 1.0 °C/min remained diabetic as measured by our clinical parameters. Thus specific definition of conditions used for cryopreservation is important in developing methods suitable for islet banking.