Islet Transplantation into Rat Liver:In VitroSecretion of Insulin from the Isolated Perfused Liver andin VivoGlucagon Suppression

Abstract

Islet isografts were injected into the portal veins of rats made diabetic with streptozotocin. The isografts normalized plasma glucose and insulin levels and the elevated plasma immunoreactive glucagon level. The in vitro basal insulin secretion and prompt sensitivity to glucose were shown directly by perfusing isolated livers containing transplanted islets. In vitro glucagon secretion to an arginine stimulus could not be demonstrated, although it would have been expected in normal islets. It appears that insulin derived from transplanted islets is capable of correcting endogenous hyperglucagonemia and of ameliorating the effects of experimental diabetes while transplanted islet glucagon secretion is relatively suppressed.