Studies of the isolation, viability, and preservation of purified islets after surgical pancreatectomy in large pigs

Abstract: Previous studies have shown separation of mass quantities of islets from slaughterhouse pig pancreases. In these studies, we examined the isolation, viability, and preservation of pig islets obtained by surgical pancreatectomy. Pigs aged 6 to 30 months weighing 100 to 200 kg were subjected to laparotomy under general anesthesia. The splenic lobe of pancreas was mobilized without warm ischemia. Islets were immediately isolated by collagenase perfusion through the duct, automated dissociation, and Ficoll purification. Yields of islets (150 μm size) were 8500 to 9300/g for two different collagenases before purification. Purification yielded 90% pure islets, but yields decreased to 400 to 600/g. Perifusate insulin release was biphasic after glucose/theophylline with 3 to 5-fold stimulation. Following culture/cryopreservation marked islet losses occurred but viability was preserved. Quantities of 1,500 islet equivalents resulted in euglycemia in nude mice. These data show that mass quantities of viable islets can be isolated after pancreatectomy, but there is marked islet loss during purification and subsequent preservation due to inherent islet fragility.