Long-term survival of neonatal porcine islets in nonhuman primates by targeting costimulation pathways

Abstract

We evaluated the ability of neonatal porcine islets to engraft and restore glucose control in pancreatectomized rhesus macaques. Although porcine islets transplanted into nonimmunosuppressed macaques were rapidly rejected by a process consistent with cellular rejection, recipients treated with a CD28-CD154 costimulation blockade regimen achieved sustained insulin independence (median survival, >140 days) without evidence of porcine endogenous retrovirus dissemination. Thus, neonatal porcine islets represent a promising solution to the crucial supply problem in clinical islet transplantation.