Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Jan;32(1):62-66.
doi: 10.3904/kjim.2016.224. Epub 2017 Jan 1.

Is islet transplantation a realistic approach to curing diabetes?

Sang-Man Jin  1 , Kwang-Won Kim  2
Affiliations
Review

Is islet transplantation a realistic approach to curing diabetes?

Sang-Man Jin et al. Korean J Intern Med. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Since the report of type 1 diabetes reversal in seven consecutive patients by the Edmonton protocol in 2000, pancreatic islet transplantation has been reappraised based on accumulated clinical evidence. Although initially expected to therapeutically target long-term insulin independence, islet transplantation is now indicated for more specific clinical benefits. With the long-awaited report of the first phase 3 clinical trial in 2016, allogeneic islet transplantation is now transitioning from an experimental to a proven therapy for type 1 diabetes with problematic hypoglycemia. Islet autotransplantation has already been therapeutically proven in chronic pancreatitis with severe abdominal pain refractory to conventional treatments, and it holds promise for preventing diabetes after partial pancreatectomy due to benign pancreatic tumors. Based on current evidence, this review focuses on islet transplantation as a realistic approach to treating diabetes.

Keywords: Diabetes; Hypoglycemia; Islet; Islets of Langerhans transplantation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

References

    1. Shapiro AM, Lakey JR, Ryan EA, et al. Islet transplantation in seven patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus using a glucocorticoid-free immunosuppressive regimen. N Engl J Med. 2000;343:230–238. - PubMed
    1. Kim JH, Kim KW. History, current status and perspective of islet transplantation. Korean J Med. 2008;75:274–279.
    1. Kim KW. Islet transplantation: a realistic alternative for the treatment of insulin deficient diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2004;66 Suppl 1:S11–S17. - PubMed
    1. Dunn TB, Kirchner V, Bellin MD. Beta-cell replacement therapy: current outcomes and future landscape. Curr Opin Organ Transplant. 2015;20:681–690. - PubMed
    1. Choudhary P, Rickels MR, Senior PA, et al. Evidence-informed clinical practice recommendations for treatment of type 1 diabetes complicated by problematic hypoglycemia. Diabetes Care. 2015;38:1016–1029. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources