Published 31 July 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b3089
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b3089

News

Australian team to transplant pig islet cells into patients with unstable diabetes

Susan Mayor

1 London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Australian researchers have been given permission to do a clinical trial in which pig islet cells are transplanted into adult patients with unstable type 1 diabetes in an attempt to cure their disease, it was announced last week.

A research group from the company Living Cell Technologies has been granted approval to conduct the trial in New Zealand because there is a moratorium on xenotransplantation, the transplantation of living animal cells or tissues into humans, in Australia.

In the trial, adults with unstable type 1 diabetes will be given microencapsulated pig islet cells by intraperitoneal injection. The islet cells are coated in a material that allows insulin to pass out into the patient’s bloodstream and nutrients to diffuse into the cells. However, it reduces the risk of rejection by preventing direct contact between the surface of the transplanted islet cells and antibodies and cells from the patient’s immune system. Rejection . . . [Full text of this article]


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