Barbara Ludwig and her team publish new study on xenotransplant­ation in PNAS

Within her recently published article, Barbara Ludwig and her team report on the successful and safe transplantation of porcine islets with a bioartificial pancreas device in diabetic nonhuman primates without any immune suppression.

Today, transplantation of pancreatic islets for treating type 1 diabetes is restricted to patients with critical metabolic lability resulting from the need for immunosuppression and the shortage of donor organs. Although substantial advances have been made in beta cell replacement therapies during the last decades, especially the lack of eligible donor organs as well as the need for chronic immunosuppression to prevent rejection critically limit widespread application of these strategies. To overcome these barriers, Dr. Ludwig and her colleagues developed a strategy to macroencapsulate islets from different sources that allow their survival and function without immunosuppression. Here they present an experimental study using a bioartificial pancreas device for the transplantation of xenogeneic islet without affecting the immune system in nonhuman primates. Dr. Ludwig and her team could demonstrate stable graft function and adequate glucose-regulated insulin secretion without the need for immunosuppressive medication. This strategy opens up new avenues for more widespread and safe application of various cell-based therapies.
 

Please find the original article here.