X-Message-Number: 13273
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 19:14:31 -0800 (PST)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: polyethylene glycol and islet cryopreservation

Authors
  Monroy B.  Honiger J.  Darquy S.  Reach G.
Institution
  INSERM U341, Service de Diabetologie, Hopital Hotel-Dieu, Paris, France.
Title
  Use of polyethyleneglycol for porcine islet
  cryopreservation.
Source
  Cell Transplantation.  6(6):613-21, 1997 Nov-Dec.
Abstract
  The aim of this work was to determine whether polyethylene
  glycol 20000 Da (PEG) could be used as protective agent in
  porcine islet cryopreservation.
  Cryopreservation was performed on 1-wk cultured pig islets
  and consisted in an overnight storage in liquid nitrogen. In a first set of
  experiments, we compared the in vitro function of PEG-cryopreserved islets to
  that of porcine islets cryopreserved under the standard procedure using
  dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), by incubating the islets over 45 min in Krebs
  buffer containing either 2.8 or 10 mmol/L glucose. Insulin secretion of both
  types of islets reached a maximum at day 10 postthawing and had stimulation
  indices above 2 up to 3 wk after thawing. PEG-cryopreserved islets secreted
  more insulin than DMSO-treated islets and showed glucose-dependency insulin
  secretion in a 0-16.6 mmol/L glucose range. We also established that
  PEG-cryopreserved islets were as functional in vitro as nonfrozen tissue and
  that they could reverse experimental diabetes of the mouse for longer periods
  of time than noncryopreserved islets (p < 0.005 3 wk after transplantation)
  when implanted in the peritoneal cavity, being immunoprotected in a
  semipermeable hollow fiber. PEG can, therefore, be considered as a suitable
  cryoprotective compound for porcine islet storage.

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