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Living Donors May Be Best Source Of Insulin-producing Islets For Diabetes Treatment

Date:
November 27, 2007
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Summary:
Obtaining islet cells (clusters of pancreatic cells that create insulin) from living donors may be a solution to the shortage of islets available for transplantation. In samples taken from living donors, 94 percent of the cells were viable for transplant, compared to only 42 percent of cells taken from deceased donors.
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According to a new study in Clinical Transplantation, obtaining islet cells (clusters of pancreatic cells that create insulin) from living donors may be a solution to the shortage of islets available for transplantation.

In samples taken from living donors, 94 percent of the cells were viable for transplant, compared to only 42 percent of cells taken from deceased donors.

“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. “In fact, we sometimes require islet cells from two deceased donors to gather enough cells to treat one patient.”

Living donors would be able to provide many more healthy cells, since islet cells begin to deteriorate immediately after brain death.

Unfortunately, obtaining islet cells from living donors is not a risk-free procedure; donors may become susceptible to developing diabetes themselves. “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.

This study is published in the November/December issue of Clinical Transplantation.


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Materials provided by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


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Blackwell Publishing Ltd.. "Living Donors May Be Best Source Of Insulin-producing Islets For Diabetes Treatment." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 November 2007. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071126121726.htm>.
Blackwell Publishing Ltd.. (2007, November 27). Living Donors May Be Best Source Of Insulin-producing Islets For Diabetes Treatment. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071126121726.htm
Blackwell Publishing Ltd.. "Living Donors May Be Best Source Of Insulin-producing Islets For Diabetes Treatment." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071126121726.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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