Plasma insulin and glucose levels in diabetic rats prior to and following islet transplantation.

Transplantation of islets of Langerhans into the peritoneal cavity of diabetic rats returns the recipients to a normal metabolic state and provides the capability to respond to a glucose stimulation with a rapid release of insulin. Of the two groups of transplanted diabetic rats studied, each had normal nonfasting glucose levels and normal glucose profiles following intravenous glucose tolerance tests. However, one group had significantly lower insulin levels than normal controls both under nonfasting conditions and 4 minutes following glucose stimulation. The other group demonstrated insulin levels greater than those of the normal controls when drawn under nonfasting conditions and essentially identical to the levels of the normal controls following a glucose load. Each transplanted group responded similarly to normal rats with a rapid release of insulin following glucose administration.