Use of trypsin for isolation of islets of Langerhans in the rat.

A new technique for pancreatic islet isolation, based on trypsin administered into the pancreatic duct system and a reduced amount of collagenase for digestion of the removed and chopped pancreatic tissue, yielded viable islets as judged by the metabolic response of 27 inbred, streptozotocin-diabetic rats after intraportal transplantation of the islets: all recipients of greater than 240 islets normalized their blood glucose, plasma insulin, urine volume and urinary glucose. The number of islets isolated was the same as with the conventional collagenase technique.