Islet recovery in chronic pancreatitis.

Chronic pancreatitis ablates a large majority of the acinar tissue which otherwise is a troublesome contaminant in preparing islet cells from higher mammals. Chronic pancreatitis was induced by dividing all pancreatic attachments to the duodenum, including major and minor ducts, in six dogs. After 10 weeks, biopsy of the pancreas showed marked acinar cell atrophy and fibrosis with preservation and even proliferation of islet cells. Intravenous glucose tolerance testing revealed only a minor decrease in K value from 3.4 +/- 1.0 to 2.1 +/- 0.4 during 10 weeks. All dogs then underwent total pancreatectomy and islet autotransplantation. The pancreas was dispersed to a cell suspension by perfusing the pancreatic ducts with collagenase until tissue integrity failed. The digested tissue was then chopped, dissociated by shaking, and filtered. The average cell yield from the pancreas was 7.6 X 10(7) cells of which greater than 95% were islet cells. Acid alcohol-extracted insulin values suggested an average 7% recovery of insulin content and essentially complete elimination of amylase content was demonstrated.