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Function and fate of agarose microcapsules containing allogeneic islets in rat recipients
Author(s) -
Hasegawa Yasuhiro,
Nakagawara Gizou,
Imamura Yoshiaki,
Iwata Hiroo,
Ikada Yoshito
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
polymers for advanced technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.61
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1099-1581
pISSN - 1042-7147
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1581(1998100)9:10/11<794::aid-pat805>3.0.co;2-7
Subject(s) - islet , agarose , abdominal cavity , transplantation , peritoneal cavity , laparotomy , urology , medicine , biology , insulin , surgery , microbiology and biotechnology
Implantation of microencapsulated islets has been considered one of the promising approaches to treat insulin‐dependent diabetic patients. In this study, microcapsules made of agarose hydrogel were applied to allogeneic islet transplantation between F344/Jcl and ACI/N Jc1 ras. Implantation of 1000 microencapsulated islets normalized the fasting blood sugar level for 118 ± 38 days. Of the microcapsules transplanted, 55 ± 3.1% were occluded into the greater omentum, 26 ± 2.0% were present at the space between intestinal tubes and 10 ± 1.4% in the pelvic cavity. Laparotomy revealed a good tone of the intestine without stenosis and dilatation. However, microscopic examination revealed that some of the microcapsules induced an inflammatory reaction and migrated into the liver tissue. A large volume of the microcapsules remaining in the abdominal cavity might induce adverse effects on the recipient in clinical application. These findings suggest that new materials should be developed for microencapsulation of islets in order to maintain their immunoisolative ability during islet functioning, be spontaneously resolved or be removed without surgical procedure after the microcapsules have finished their duty. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.