Encapsulated islet cell therapy for the treatment of diabetes: intraperitoneal injection of islets.

ABSTRACT

Since conventional insulin therapy has failed to achieve tight glucose control, an alternative treatment is urgently needed to treat diabetes. The findings of the Diabetes Control and Complication Trial1 conclusively establish that improved glycemic control delays the onset and slows the progression of neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy in insulin-dependent diabetic patients. The disease leads inexorably to one or more of the secondary complications, including renal failure, blindness, coronary and peripheral vascular occlusive disease. The challenge physicians face is to intervene before these secondary complications take their toll. Transplantation of encapsulated human islets to reverse diabetes by a minimally invasive or minor surgical procedure, without the risk of high-dose or life-long immunosuppression will be described here. In the near future, the shortage of donor human tissue will be overcome either by the use of encapsulated xenograft (porcine) islets or proliferated human islets. Thus, encapsulated islet therapy may become possible for the millions of diabetic patients who may benefit from islet cell transplantation.