Extra-Hepatic Islet Transplantation

• Main Authors: Anaïs Schaschkow, Séverine Sigrist, Carole Mura, Caroline Dissaux, Karim Bouzakri, Anne Lejay, Catherine Bruant-Rodier, Michel Pinget, Elisa Maillard
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2018-08-01
• Series: Cell Transplantation
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/0963689718784873

Following the tremendous development of hydrogels for cell therapy, there is now a growing need for surgical techniques to validate in vivo scaffold benefits for islet transplantation. Therefore, we propose a newly designed surgical procedure involving the injection of hydrogel-embedded pancreatic islets in the omentum, which is considered a favorable environment for cell survival and function. Our technique, called h-Omental Matrix Islet filliNG (hOMING) was designed to test the benefits of hydrogel on islet survival and function in vivo . Islets were implanted in the omentum of diabetic rats using the hOMING technique and alginate as an islet carrier. Blood glucose and C-peptide levels were recorded to assess graft function. After 2 months, grafts were explanted and studied using insulin and vessel staining. All rats that underwent hOMING exhibited graft function characterized by a glycemia decrease and a C-peptidemia increase ( P < 0.001 compared with preoperative levels). Furthermore, hOMING appeared to preserve islet morphology and insulin content and allowed the proper revascularization of grafted islets. The results suggest that hOMING is a viable and promising approach to test in vivo the benefits of hydrogel administration for islet transplantation into the omental tissue.