| Abstract: | Human pancreatic islets were isolated by collagenase treatment of pancreatic tissue obtained from 27 individuals aged 12 to 69 years. The islets were maintained free floating in tissue culture medium RPMI 1640 supplemented with calf or human serum. In two cases the insulin production was followed up to nearly two years. The insulin production rate of the individual islet preparations varied between 0.2 and 8 ng per islet per day. No significant correlation with donor age or sex was found. The glucose concentration in the medium influenced the insulin release in a dose dependent manner. The acute response of the cultured islets to glucose was evaluated both by batch incubation and by perifusion. Both in the acute and the chronic experiments maximal insulin release was found at 10 mM glucose. In conclusion, these experiments indicate that viable islets of Langerhans can be obtained from adult human pancreatic tissue and that their beta-cell function can be maintained for up to two years. The variation in insulin production rate could not be ascribed to age or sex and may reflect both physiological and methodological factors. |
