Metabolism of cold-stored pancreatic islets.

A previous study showed that the ability of glucose to stimulate insulin release was retained in islets stored at 8 degrees C for one week provided that glucose was present in a high concentration in the storage medium. The metabolic properties of islets stored in the cold have now been further explored in an attempt to clarify the protective effect of glucose. During storage in the cold the islet formation of 3H2O from (5--3H) glucose and oxygen consumption were only a few per cent of that of fresh islets whereas the putake of 86Rb+ was 20--48%. Rewarming the cold-stored islets to 37 degrees C after one week of cold-storage restored the 86Rb+ uptake, the formation of 3H2O and 14CO2 from labelled glucose and oxygen consumption to 75, 80, 60 and 40% respectively of fresh islet levels. The results emphasize the usefulness of cold-storage for preservation of functionally intact isolated islets.