Prevention of vascular complications of diabetes by pancreatic islet transplantation.

Isolated pancreatic islets from Wistar-Lewis rats were transplanted into the liver of diabetic allogeneic recipients to assess ability to prevent diabetic renal and ophthalmic complications. At nine months, the diabetic animals without transplants showed significant increase in PAS-positive material in the renal glomerular mesangium and thickening of glomerular arterioles as compared with normal nondiabetic animals. New vessel formation was also significant in the retina and retinal capillary dilation. Animals in which diabetes had been corrected by early pancreatic islet transplantation were completely protected from these changes, showing no significant pathologic change when compared with normal animals.