Islet transplantation is an exciting frontier of diabetes research as it can reverse diabetes. A recent study from researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton showed promising results when a combination of intensive insulin and heparin is used to garner better success of islet transplantation from a single donor.

Due to inefficiencies in islet harvest, islet transplants usually require harvesting from more than one donor. Not only does the drug combination yield more islets from a single donor, early results suggest patients receiving islets from one donor realize longer insulin independence. Study researchers hypothesized heparin, an anticoagulant, could prevent damage from clotting, while intensive insulin could relieve stress and inflammation on the islets during transplantation.

13 patients received the insulin/heparin (IH) combination. 6 of the 13 IH patients (46%) were able to give up insulin treatments. This was compared to a previous 66-patient cohort that had received islet transplants via intraportal cultured islet-alone infusions, followed by immune system suppression via three different drugs. Of these 66 patients, only 5 (8%) were able to give up insulin. Furthermore, 55% of patients reaching insulin dependence via one donor maintained independence after 60 months, compared to only 9% of patients receiving islets from more than one donor.

To learn more about the metabolic wonders of islets of Langerhan, please see this previous post.