Search

A microsurgical technique for en bloc kidney and whole pancreaticoduodenal transplantation with bladder drainage employing triple vascular anastomoses without the need for a vascular cuff is described. Nineteen combined isografts were performed using this technique in inbred male Lewis (RT1:I) rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. Six recipients died within 1 month from early complications (two from uremia, two from pancreatitis, one from bleeding, one from peritonitis); the other 13 survived more than 1 month after transplantation with both the pancreas and kidney grafts functioning. Four of the 13 rats died after 1 month (one from uremia secondary to an obstructed ureter, one from unexplained uremia, one from peritonitis after a biopsy, and one of unknown causes). The pancreas isografts of two animals were excised at 1 and 3 months to confirm dependence on the graft; both animals became hyperglycemic after graft pancreatectomy and had immediate declines of urine amylase activity to normal. One animal was sacrificed at 3 months to determine the insulin content of its native and transplanted pancreas; insulin was very low in the former and normal in the latter. The remaining rats survived with both grafts functioning for at least 6 months (normoglycemic, high urinary amylase levels, normal or near-normal plasma creatinine concentrations), before being sacrificed within the context of other experiments and for histological observations. Both the kidney and pancreas isografts were well preserved microscopically.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

We have examined the effects of prednisone, cyclosporine, azathioprine, and RBC-adsorbed goat antidog antilymphocyte globulin on islet graft function in totally pancreatectomized canines with purified, quantitatively defined, autologous, or allogeneic islets transplanted to the liver. The objectives were twofold: (1) to determine the potential detrimental effects to islet autograft function of the aforementioned agents, and (2) to determine the relative efficacy of the "nontoxic" agents in prolonging purified islet allograft function administered in doses that would be considered tolerable in human. The islet autograft studies demonstrated that prednisone given in doses of 1-2 mg/kg/day had a detrimental effect on islet autograft function, and that the combinations of immunosuppression involving CsA, azathioprine, and ALG were not detrimental to islet autograft function to the extent that hyperglycemia would ensue. In the subsequent allograft studies, three groups of canines received islet transplants: (1) controls (n = 5; 7860 +/- 750 islets/kg/weight), (2) canines given CsA and azathioprine (n = 6; 6810 +/- 890 islets/kg/body weight), and (3) canines given CsA, azathioprine, and RBC-adsorbed goat antidog ALG (n = 8; 6540 +/- 710 islets/kg/body weight). The mean (+/- SE) day of rejection (serum glucose greater than or equal to 200 mg/dl) in the group of canine islet allograft recipients receiving CsA, azathioprine, and ALG was 11.8 +/- 1.4 days--significantly prolonged versus islet allograft recipients receiving no immunosuppression (mean survival 4.8 +/- 1.1 days, P less than 0.03), and versus allograft recipients receiving CsA/azathioprine without ALG (mean survival 4.4 +/- 1.4 days, P less than 0.05). Prednisone appears to be detrimental to islet graft function, even at low doses. ALG was not toxic, and significantly extended the survival of canine islet allografts. The inclusion of steroids as part of maintenance immunosuppression, or as treatment for acute rejection of islets, in human islet transplants should be reconsidered, whereas ALG or other antilymphocyte agents should continue to be used.

Using a modification of the basic principles of pancreatic intraductal collagenase digestion and density gradient purification to isolate canine islets, in conjunction with simultaneous fluorogenic and dithizone islet staining, we quantified the yield, purity, and viability of the isolated islets. We then determined the combined influences of total and weight-corrected islet counts and implantation site on immediate and long-term functional outcome of purified canine islet autografts. Weight-corrected islet counts were 100% sensitive and specific in differentiating successful and unsuccessful islet autografts implanted to the liver (n = 10) and spleen (n = 10) of pancreatectomized dogs. The threshold number of islets required to achieve normoglycemia in the liver (4400 islets/kg) and spleen (4650 islets/kg) were nearly identical. Islet autografts failed to ameliorate hyperglycemia when implanted to the renal subcapsular space (n = 5) at counts of 4400 to 5500 islets/kg. The mean one- and three-month intravenous glucose tolerance test K-values of dogs with purified islet autografts to the liver (-1.43 +/- 0.27 and -1.69 +/- 0.27, respectively) and spleen (-1.78 +/- 0.36 and -1.64 +/- 0.3, respectively) were also similar. Time needed to achieve normoglycemia , however, was significantly (P less than 0.02) shorter for intrahepatic islets (1.0 +/- 0.0 days posttransplant) than intrasplenic islets (6.8 +/- 2.3 days posttransplant). The long-term durability of islet autograft function was not unlimited. Overall, thirteen canine islet autograft recipients have been followed for greater than or equal to 12 months posttransplant (range 12-18 months), seven canine islet autograft recipients (five intrahepatic and two intrasplenic) have had spontaneous recurrence of hyperglycemia at 2, 6, 11, 13, 14, 8, and 16 months, respectively. The phenomenon depended only on the number of islets implanted. The data underscore the significance of quantitatively defined islet preparations and the importance of islet number and implantation site on immediate and long-term functional outcome of canine islet autografts.

The time course and Na+ dependence of morphological responses to a physiological elevation of aldosterone were examined in the renal cortical collecting duct. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were adrenalectomized and given a basal replacement infusion of aldosterone and dexamethasone by osmotic minipump. The animals were given additional aldosterone by either intravenous infusion or by a second implanted osmotic minipump for either 5 h or 1, 3, 7, or 14 days. Animals were fed either a Na(+)-replete or a low-Na+ diet. After these treatments we conducted a morphometric analysis on kidneys processed for electron microscopy by standard techniques. Increased aldosterone induced detectable proliferation of the basolateral membrane of principal cells after 24 h. Basolateral membrane continued to increase rapidly through 3 days of exposure and thereafter at a modest rate. Cell area and the surface density of the basolateral membrane were also increased by aldosterone treatment. The morphological response to aldosterone was markedly inhibited by maintaining animals on a low-Na+ diet. Acute exposure to elevated aldosterone levels (5 h) increased K+ secretion by principal cells without alterations in basolateral membrane area. Chronic (greater than 24 h) exposure to aldosterone induces morphological adaptations that are accompanied by further elevations in K+ secretion.

15-Deoxyspergualin (DSG), a macrophage immunomodulatory agent, was used as a probe in a murine model of islet transplantation to examine 1) the significance of the nonspecific, macrophage-mediated effector arm of β-cell injury in recipients of a marginal mass of isologous islets by analyzing the duration of temporary posttransplant hyperglycemia, a parameter of immediate β-cell function; and 2) whether long-term (> 100 days) functional survival could be achieved in recipients of a marginal mass of allogeneic islets. A dose-response study of the number of islets required to ameliorate diabetes showed that 150 isologous islets per recipient resulted in a 75% incidence of cure at a mean of 39.2 ± 5.8 days posttransplant. DSG-treated (0.625 mg.kg−1.day−1 intraperitoneally) recipients of isologous islets demonstrated a significant (P < 0.01) reduction in the duration of temporary posttransplant hyperglycemia (16.8 ± 3.2 vs. 39.2 ± 5.8 days), and DSG-treated recipients of allogeneic islets demonstrated a significant (P < 0.03) improvement in the rate of achieving long-term functional survival (75 vs. 22% in untreated control animals). Finally, identical rates of islet engraftment were found among control animals and DSG-treated animals by measurement of tissue insulin content in transplanted specimens. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that DSG alters the duration of temporary posttransplant hyperglycemia and extends long-term functional survival in murine recipients of a marginal mass of islets, not by affecting the efficiency of islet engraftment, but by suppression of the inhibitory effects on β-cell function by nonspecific, macrophage mediators.

Pancreas transplant results have been better in uremic recipients of a simultaneous kidney than in nonuremic recipients of a pancreas alone. We studied the relative effect of uremia versus a double transplant on functional survival by performing bladder-drained pancreas transplants alone (PTA), kidney transplants alone (KTA), and simultaneous pancreas/kidney (SPK) transplants from Buffalo donors to diabetic Lewis rat recipients that were or were not made uremic 2-3 weeks before by 1 4/5 native nephrectomy. Pancreas graft exocrine function was monitored by urinary amylase (UA). In the PTA and SPK recipients made diabetic by streptozotocin, endocrine function was monitored by measuring nonfasting plasma glucose (PG) levels. Kidney graft function was monitored by plasma creatinine (Cr). Rejection of the endocrine pancreas was defined as an increase of PG to greater than 200 mg/dl; of the exocrine pancreas, as a decline in UA to less than 6000 U/L or to less than 100 U/24 hr; and of the kidney, as an elevation of Cr to greater than 3 mg/dl. The mean functional survival times (MST) of both the endocrine (12.0 +/- 2.1 versus 10.1 +/- 1.1 days, P = 0.036) and exocrine (8.0 +/- 2.1 versus 6.3 +/- 1.3 days, P = 0.016) components of the pancreas grafts were significantly longer in SPK than in PTA recipients. The MST of kidney allografts, however, was not significantly longer in nonuremic SPK than nonuremic KTA recipients (6.7 +/- 1.4 versus 5.7 +/- 0.7 days, P = 0.13). In parallel experiments in recipients immunosuppressed with cyclosporine, the graft survival times were longer, but the relative differences between the PTA, SPK, and KTA groups persisted. Histologically, lymphocyte infiltration began in the two organs almost simultaneously, but the severity of the rejection was more vigorous in the kidney than in the pancreas in doubly grafted rats, and destruction of pancreas grafts progressed more slowly in SPK than in PTA recipients. Preexisting uremia delayed pancreas rejection in both SPK (exocrine 10.6 +/- 2.3, P = 0.032, and endocrine 14.8 +/- 3.4 days, P = 0.065, versus nonuremics) and PTA (exocrine 8.5 +/- 1.7, P = 0.007, and endocrine 12.6 +/- 2.5, P = 0.026, versus nonuremics) nonimmunosuppressed recipients. The MST of kidney grafts was not significantly longer in uremic (8.9 +/- 2.8 days) than in nonuremic (6.7 +/- 1.4 days) SPK recipients (P = 0.081). A synchronous kidney transplant and uremia independently down-modulate the rejection response to a pancreas graft, and a simultaneous pancreas graft has no detrimental effect on the survival of a kidney graft.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Pigs appear to be a suitable biological and logistical animal donor of islets for xenotransplantation in human diabetic type I recipients. To improve the islet isolation technique in this species, to evaluate the islet function in vivo, and to assess the toxic effects of various immunosuppressive regiments on transplanted islets will necessitate a model of the pancreatectomized pig suitable for islet autotransplantation. We describe three techniques of total pancreatectomy in pigs. The first removed the pancreas in order to study postoperative management and pig survival; no attempt was made to preserve the pancreas for islet isolation. The second consisted of a pancreatectomy in a surviving pig, with careful preservation of the whole pancreas for subsequent islet isolation. The third was rapid en bloc procurement of the pancreas and duodenum, to obtain a pancreas solely for the purpose of islet isolation. We conclude that pigs tolerate and survive a total pancreatectomy--they are suitable animals for islet isolation and possible autotransplantation. The result of islet isolation does not appear related to the pancreas procurement technique; however, the islet yield must be improved before autotransplantation can be functionally successful.

Cold-storage preservation of the canine pancreas prior to islet isolation has previously been noted to reduce the intrasplenic islet autograft success rate; but the mechanism of this deleterious effect has not been determined. We undertook a study in both outbred dogs and Lewis (RT1-1) rats to determine the influence of cold-storage preservation interval, preservation solution, and flushing technique on islet yield and islet viability. The preservation solutions used were those that had proved most efficacious in preserving segmental canine pancreases--namely, the modifications of silica gel fractionated plasma (SGF-III and SGF-IV) and an hydroxyethylstarch/lactobionate solution (UW-1). In the first set of experiments, the traditional vascular flush was used; this was followed by storage at 4 degrees C. After brief periods of preservation (3 hr in the rat, 12 hr in the dog) there was a significant (P less than 0.006) reduction in islet yield. The reduced yields were similar with each solution tested, were made worse with increasing intervals of storage, and resulted in a significant reduction in autograft success rate. The second set of experiments examined the effect of using an intraductal flush prior to preservation, along with the effect of adding collagenase to the preservation fluid. Islet yields were maintained at control values in both animal models using preservation intervals of up to 24 hr. These islet yields produced auto- or isograft success rates similar to those obtained by transplanting freshly obtained tissue; verifying adequate islet viability. We recommend that a pre-storage ductal flush technique be used for cold-storage preservation of the pancreas prior to islet isolation and transplantation.

This is an interim summary pending a full account of four years' work in the villages of nine representative tribes of Ghana.

To determine the specific effects on renal potassium transport of acute elevations in plasma aldosterone, dexamethasone, and potassium concentrations, we studied adrenalectomized rats prepared such that each factor could be varied independently. Clearance data alone could not be used to deduce the underlying tubular transport effects, however, since infusion of each of these agents was associated with a marked change in urinary flow rate, which may itself have influenced potassium excretion. We therefore used a technique of continuous microperfusion, in vivo, of single superficial distal tubules to evaluate potassium secretion at constant luminal flow rate during each experimental maneuver. Acute aldosterone infusion was associated with a 90% stimulation of potassium secretion by microperfused tubules. However, total kidney sodium excretion and urinary flow rate were markedly reduced, and these factors opposed the direct tubular action of aldosterone, resulting in no net change in the amount of potassium excreted into the final urine. Conversely, dexamethasone had no direct effect on potassium secretion by single microperfused tubules, but it caused a sharp increase in urinary flow and sodium excretion, and secondarily enhanced urinary potassium excretion by 50%. Hyperkalemia per se stimulated renal potassium excretion both via a direct tubular effect and by increasing urinary flow rate. We conclude that urinary potassium excretion after infusion of each of these agents represents the net result of direct tubular effects and secondary flow-mediated changes.

In rural Ghana new shrines continue to be founded in response to a search for security begun about 40 years ago. The commonest mental illnesses seen at these shrines are depression, acute trans ient fear-psychosis, and schizophrenia. Obsessive-compulsive states are rare but do. Potential schizophrenics are specially vulnerable to transient fear-psychosis. The making of bad magic against others is a schizoid type of aggression especially prone to occur in developing schizophrenia. The incidence of chronic scbizophrema in a rural population of 4,000 was found to be about 1 per cent. The incidence of literacy among schizophrenics was found to be about 40 per cent. as against 10 per cent. among the general population. The incidence of first-cousin marriage among the parents of schizophrenics was found to be about 40 per cent. as against 19 per cent. among the general population. Among supplicants at shrines, dreams are deemed highly important. Persons in similar anxiety-charged situations often have identical dreams of traditional content. Most dreams sum up the dreamer's overt situation in parabolic metaphor. Hysterical dissociation (spirit possession) is part of the technique of priests, these being well adjusted, non-hysterical personalities. It is used therapeutically by some African-controlled Christian communities. It is postulated that some kinds of magical ritual, animal totemism, and the male ficent powers attributed to witches were originated, historically, by schizophrenics and depressives.