Intraportal islet transplantation: functional assessment in conscious unrestrained rats.

We have found that rats with transplanted pancreatic islets, when compared to normal rats, have a delayed onset of insulin release in response to orally, but not to iv administered glucose. Furthermore, while glucose tolerance of the rats with transplanted islets was similar to that of normal controls when the glucose was administered iv, the tolerance was markedly less when it was administered orally. These tests were carried out using permanently implanted cardiac catheters and chronic oral fistulae and were conducted at a time when the body weight of the transplanted animals had returned to levels similar to those of the controls. During the tests the rats were conscious and unrestrained. The difference in the fine control of insulin secretion in transplanted islets from that in the normal pancreas may be due to defective innervation of such islets. These results may have implications for the use of transplanted islets in the control of diabetes mellitus in man. The methods employed can be further used to define other areas in which the response of transplanted islets in rats differs from that of the normal pancreas.