Human pancreas

Realization of a laboratory dedicated to the isolation and transplantation of Langherans Islets from human pancreas. New perspectives for diabetes mellitus type 1 (T1DM) therapy.

Scientific background

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder caused by a relative or absolute deficit of insulin. In nowadays, in the whole world, the number of people affected with this pathology is about 194 million. Islets of Langherans transplantation, together with pancreas transplantation, is now a rising alternative to the insulin therapy. A cellular transplantation, respect the whole organ, has the advantage to be executed through ecoguided infusion in the portal venous system and to have a “silent” rejection, in which the effects are only an increase of glycaemia  connected to a malfunction of the Islets. However, technical limits connected to the complexity of isolation and purification procedures, the loss of a big number of Islets after the inflammation post-transplantation, the need for an adequate protocol for immunosopression, obstacle the immediate applicability on a large scale. American Diabetes Association’s guidelines, currently recognized worldwide, suggest that the “ideal receivers” of Islets transplantation are the ones afflicted with unstable diabetes, that is the one uncontrollable with eternal insulin administration, and diabetic patients that already had a kidney transplantation but afflicted again with renal failure. Islets of Lagherans transplantation is still considered an experimental procedure, although since 1998 until now more than 50 centers were involved in this common effort and 600 patients had this transplantation in all the world. Biotechnologies Centre team’s work developed for the Islets of Lagherans isolation and purification methods from human pancreas. Later will be organized the Processing Unit of Islets of Lagherans as specified by Good Manufacturing Practice: GMP. This guideline is related to the directive 2003/94/CE, in accordance with the technical document emanated by the National Transplantation Centre (Centro Nazionale Trapianti – 7/9/2007) about the extraction, processing and usage of Islets of Lagherans. Simultaneously will be organized the development of the clinical protocol for the realization of the first transplantation. This activity will be conducted in collaboration with referential diabetics centers, an essential support for patients identification that, for clinical history and diagnosis, are adequate for Islets transplantation.

Websites

www.med.ualberta.ca (à research group à islet transplantation à research group)

www.joslin.org (à diabetes research à research sections à islet transplant and cell biology)

www.immunotolerance.org (à overview and mission)