Islet transplantation to the renal subcapsular space in streptozotocin-diabetic rats: short-term effects on glucose-stimulated insulin secretion.
The immediate and short-term effects of transplantation of freshly isolated islets on glucose-stimulated insulin secretion were studied in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. At 2 days after the intravenous injection of streptozotocin (70 mg/kg), either 400 or 1000 freshly isolated, hand-picked islets were transplanted to the left renal subcapsular space. Intravenous glucose infusion (10 mg/min) performed 1, 3, 6, and 10 days after transplantation revealed that already at day 3, rats transplanted with 1000 islets had a significant plasma insulin response to glucose, though the response was lower than in healthy controls. At 6 and 10 days after transplantation, the 1000 islet-transplanted group of rats had a near-normal plasma insulin response to glucose. Basal plasma glucose levels were, however, still slightly elevated. Rats transplanted with 400 islets had a significant plasma insulin response at 10 days after transplantation, though the response was lower than in those transplanted with 1000 islets. It is concluded that a near-normal in vivo insulin secretory response to glucose is already obtained 6 days after transplantation with 1000 freshly isolated islets to the left renal subcapsular space in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. However, a slight hyperglycemia persists.