Researchers used a bioartificial pancreas device to transplant pancreatic islets, which contain insulin-producing cells, into a nonhuman primate model of diabetes; using the device, the researchers transplanted porcine islets into rhesus macaques, and found that the diabetic primates exhibited improved glycemic control and reduction in insulin needs, without requiring immunosuppressive therapy for islet survival and function, following transplantation, according to the authors.
Article #17-08420: "Favorable outcome of experimental islet xenotransplantation without immunosuppression in a nonhuman primate model of diabetes," by Barbara Ludwig et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Barbara Ludwig, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, GERMANY; tel: +49-1622550900; e-mail: <barbara.ludwig@uniklinikum-dresden.de>
###