Gopalakrishnan Loganathan

By Rajeswar Chinnuswami, Abid Hussain, Gopalakrishnan Loganathan, Siddharth Narayanan, Gene D. Porter and Appakalai N. Balamurugan

This article reviews the rationale, sources and preparation of pig islets for xenotransplantation. Pancreatic islet cell transplantation is an attractive alternative and an effective treatment option for type 1 diabetes, however, donor pancreas shortages prevent islet transplantation from being a widespread solution as the supply cannot possibly equal the demand. Porcine islet xenotransplantation has the potential to address these shortages, and recent preclinical and clinical trials show promising scientific support. Pig islets provide a readily available source for islet transplantation, with the recent trials in non-human primates (NHPs) demonstrating their potential to reverse diabetes. The risk of zoonosis can be reduced by designated pathogen-free breeding of the donor pigs, but porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) which are integrated into the genome of all pigs, are especially difficult to eliminate. However, clinical trials have demonstrated an absence of PERV transmission with a significant reduction in the number of severe hypoglycemic episodes and up to 30% reduction in exogenous insulin doses. A number of methods are currently being tested to overcome the xenograft immune rejection. Some of these methods include the production of various transgenic pigs to better xenotransplantation efficiency and the encapsulation of islets to isolate them from the host immune system. Furthermore, ongoing research is also shedding light on factors such as the age and breed of the donor pig to determine the optimal islet quantity and function.

Part of the book: Xenotransplantation