July 12, 2013 — In the first step toward animal-to-human transplants of insulin-producing cells for people with type 1 diabetes, Northwestern Medicine® scientists have successfully transplanted islets, the cells that produce insulin, from one species to another. And the islets survived without immunosuppressive drugs.
Northwestern scientists developed a new method that prevented rejection of the islets, a huge problem in transplants between species, called xenotransplantation.
"This is the first time that an interspecies transplant of islet cells has been achieved for an indefinite period of time without the use of immunosuppressive drugs," said study co-senior author Stephen Miller. "It's a big step forward."
"Our ultimate goal is to be able to transplant pig islets into humans, but we have to take baby steps," said Xunrong Luo, M.D., also co-senior author of the study that will be published online July 12 in the journal Diabetes. "Pig islets produce insulin that controls blood sugar in humans."
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