Alleviation of diabetic microangiopathy in rats by pancreatic islet cell transplantation.

Diabetes was induced in female WAG rats by an injection of streptozotocin. The resultant diabetic microangiopathy was studied in the kidney and other organs and the effectiveness of pancreatic islet cell transplantation in preventing and reversing the microvascular complications was assessed. It was found that intraportal transplants of more than 1000 islets produced metabolic normality in most animals and successful transplants prevented the development of diabetic microangiopathy. Very early lesions could be completely restored to normal. The findings strongly support the necessity of good metabolic control of human diabetic patients to prevent microangiopathic damage.