Living Donors May Hold the Key to Islet Cell Transplants

New research into islet cell transplantation indicates that living donors may be the key to obtaining enough cells for regular transplants to treat diabetes. The results of the study, published in the November/December issue of Clinical Transplantation, indicate that 94 percent of cells taken from a living donor were viable for transplantation, compared to 42 percent of cells taken from donors who were deceased.

Islet cells are pancreatic cells that help the body produce insulin. Currently, live islet cells are injected in the liver, causing the body to produce its own insulin. People with type 1 diabetes who receive the transplant are less likely to need regular insulin after the transplant is completed.

Islets from living donors are more usable because the islet cells begin to deteriorate immediately after the brain has died. One of the largest reasons why these transplants have not become a common treatment for patients with type 1 diabetes is the lack of viable islet cells available for donation. A typical transplant can require 1 million islet cells, and commonly require more than one donor to acquire enough cells.

"Islet cell transplantation is the only known cure for insulin-dependent diabetes, but there are simply not enough deceased donors available to meet the demand for islet cells," says study author Dr. Kwang-Won Kim of the Department of Medicine at the School of Medicine at Sungkyunkwan University and Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, Korea. "In fact, we sometimes require islet cells from two deceased donors to gather enough cells to treat one patient."

While this news may be helpful for those struggling with type 1 diabetes, researchers caution that this will not be a viable treatment method until the safety of the donors can be ensured. Currently, people who donate islet cells are at greater risk for developing diabetes than if they had not donated.

"Obviously, more research is needed to determine the risk to donors and ensure their safety, but if a low-risk donation strategy could be established, living donors could dramatically improve the supply of islet cells for transplant," says Kim.

Currently it is estimated that over 1 million people have type 1 diabetes that could benefit from this transplant, but only a few thousand donors with viable pancreata are available.

Like any other transplant, diabetics who receive islet cells must take immunosuppressant drugs to prevent the body from rejecting the cells. However, by having well regulated blood glucose, the chances of developing complications from diabetes such as eye or nerve damage is greatly reduced. Source:

Blackwell Publishing, "Living Donors May be Best Source of Insulin-producing Islets for Diabetes Treatment" Eurekalert