The favorable outcome of human islet transplantation in Korea: experiences of 10 autologous transplantations.

BACKGROUND

Cystic neoplasms of the pancreas are an increasingly diagnosed entity, and surgical resection of the pancreas is advocated. Islet autotransplantation is a therapeutic approach used to prevent diabetes in cases of pathologically benign neoplasm after major pancreatectomy.

METHODS

A total of 10 patients underwent pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation. To evaluate islet transplantation efficiency, the authors compared 23 subjects who did not undergo islet transplantation after partial pancreatectomy with 87 subjects with normal glucose tolerance and with 77 diabetic subjects that did not undergo pancreatectomy.

RESULTS

Ten female patients with nine cystic neoplasms and one patient with pancreatic injury underwent transplantation. Their mean islet equivalents (IEQ) was 3,159 IEQ/kg. During follow-up, two recipients required insulin or oral agents. At the 12-month follow-up, homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)-beta was 77.36+/-17.68, the insulinogenic index (INSindex) was 0.49+/-0.11, and fasting C-peptide and hemoglobin A1c were 1.28+/-0.18 ng/mL and 5.73+/-0.26%, respectively. Islet replacement was found to increase HOMA-beta by approximately 17% compared with distal pancreatectomy in normal glucose tolerance subjects without islet autotransplantation and by 46% compared with distal pancreatectomy diabetes subjects without islet autotransplantation. Factors different in the two insulin and oral hypoglycemic agent (OHA)-requiring recipients and the eight insulin- and OHA-free recipients were pancreatectomy extent, preoperative glucose metabolism insufficiency, age, and underlying cystic neoplasm disease.

CONCLUSIONS

Even partial islet graft function can have a beneficial metabolic effect on the recipient in terms of metabolic parameters such as HOMA-beta and INSindex. This study suggests that islet replacement should be considered for experimental procedures in benign pancreatic conditions.