Abstract
Pancreatic islet transplantation has been validated as a treatment for type 1 diabetes since it maintains consistent and sustained type 1 diabetes reversal. However, one of the major challenges in pancreatic islet transplantation is the body’s natural immune response to the implanted islets. Immunosuppressive drug treatment is the most popular immunomodulatory approach for islet graft survival. However, administration of immunosuppressive drugs gives rise to negative side effects, and long-term effects are not clearly understood. A bioartificial pancreas is a therapeutic approach to enable pancreatic islet transplantation without or with minimal immune suppression. The bioartificial pancreas encapsulates the pancreatic islets in a semi-permeable environment which protects islets from the body’s immune responses, while allowing the permeation of insulin, oxygen, nutrients, and waste. Many groups have developed various types of the bioartificial pancreas and tested their efficacy in animal models. However, the clinical application of the bioartificial pancreas still requires further investigation. In this review, we discuss several types of bioartificial pancreases and address their advantages and limitations. We also discuss recent advances in bioartificial pancreas applications with microfluidic or micropatterning technology.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus type 1, or type 1 diabetes, is a widespread disease where individuals are unable to produce the insulin necessary to process blood glucose because of an autoimmune response which destroys the body’s insulin-producing beta cells [1]
The results showed insulin independence 9 months after the procedure, but the patient was on lowdose immune suppressant drugs
Macroencapsulation approach is useful for enclosing islets with relative ease of retrieval if necessary
Summary
Diabetes mellitus type 1, or type 1 diabetes, is a widespread disease where individuals are unable to produce the insulin necessary to process blood glucose because of an autoimmune response which destroys the body’s insulin-producing beta cells [1]. Pancreatic islet transplantation has been attempted to maintain consistent and sustained type 1 diabetes reversal. One of the primary challenges facing pancreatic islet transplantation is the body’s natural immune response towards the foreign islets. Approaches for islet transplantation therapy without use of immunosuppressive drugs are desired. To address this issue, many groups have attempted to encapsulate islets within bioartificial pancreases [7,8,9]. A bioartificial pancreas encapsulates the pancreatic islets in a semi-permeable environment and prevents islet exposure to the body’s immune responses while allowing the permeation of insulin, oxygen, nutrients, and waste products [9]. We discuss recent advances in bioartificial pancreas applications with microfluidic or micropatterning technology
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