PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

H A Clayton

Publications and source records attributed to H A Clayton.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Pancreas resection and islet autotransplantation for end-stage chronic pancreatitis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the safety and efficacy of islet autotransplantation (IAT) combined with total pancreatectomy (TP) to prevent diabetes. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: There have been recent concerns regarding the safety of TP and IAT. This is thought to be related to the infusion of large volumes of unpurified pancreatic digest into the portal vein. Minimizing the volume of islet tissue by purifying the pancreatic digest has not been previously evaluated in terms of the postoperative rate of death and complications, pain relief, and insulin independence. METHOD: During a 54-month period, 24 patients underwent pancreas resection with IAT. Islets were isolated using collagenase and a semiautomated method of pancreas digestion. Where possible, islets were purified on a density gradient and COBE processor. Islets were embolized into the portal vein, within the spleen and portal vein, or within the spleen alone. The total median volume of digest was 9.9 mL. RESULTS: The median number of islets transplanted was 140,419 international islet equivalents per kilogram. The median increase in portal pressure was 8 mmHg. Early complications included duodenal ischemia, a wedge splenic infarct, partial portal vein thrombosis, and splenic vein thrombosis. Intraabdominal adhesions were the main source of long-term problems. Eight patients developed transient insulin independence. Three patients were insulin-independent as of this writing. Patients had significantly decreased insulin requirements and glycosylated hemoglobin levels compared with patients undergoing TP alone. Of the patients alive and well as of this writing, four had failed to gain relief of their abdominal pain and were still opiate-dependent. CONCLUSION: Combined TP and IAT can be a safe surgical procedure. Unfortunately, almost all patients were still insulin-dependent, but they had decreased daily insulin requirements and glycosylated hemoglobin levels compared with patients undergoing TP alone. A prospective randomized study is therefore needed to assess the long-term benefit of TP and IAT on diabetic complications.

Adult↗

Non-heart-beating organ donors: a potential source of islets for transplantation?

BACKGROUND: The shortage of organ donors relative to the number of patients on transplant waiting lists has led to a renewed interest in the use of non-heart-beating (NHB) organ donors in many centers. The lack of donors is also a problem for islet transplantation. The disparity between donor organs and potential recipients is further exacerbated by the requirement to transplant a large number of islets to increase the chance of success and the high level of variability in islet isolation yield. Non-heart-beating (NHB) donors have not previously been assessed as a source of islets for transplantation, and it is unknown what affects the additional factor of warm ischemic injury associated with NHB organs may have on the success of islet isolation. METHODS: This study assesses the yield and function of islets from NHB donors and compares the results with islets obtained from heart-beating brain-dead (HB) donors. RESULTS: There were no differences in the yield of islets per gram of pancreas, 1788 (0-4620) NHB vs. 1580 (26-2544) HB (median, range). The secretory function was also similar in both groups, with stimulation indices of 0.71-3.49 for NHB vs. 0.30-3.57 for HB (overall range). There was no correlation between islet yield and warm ischemia time in the NHB donor group. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the study has demonstrated that it is possible to isolate large numbers of islets from NHB donor pancreata and that, where NHB donor programs exist, these could provide a significant addition to the number of potentially transplantable islets.

Adult↗

Glucagon decreases cytokine induction of nitric oxide synthase and action on insulin secretion in RIN5F cells and rat and human islets of Langerhans.

Nitric oxide synthase, induced by cytokines in insulin-containing cells, produces nitric oxide which inhibits function and may promote cell killing. Since glucagon was shown to prevent inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in rat hepatocytes it was of interest to examine the action of glucagon (and cyclic AMP) on iNOS induction in insulin-producing cells. Cultured RIN5F cells and primary rat and human islets of Langerhans were treated with interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta) or a combination of cytokines, and were co-treated or pre-treated with glucagon. In RIN5F cells, the activity of iNOS induced by IL-1beta (10 pM, 24 h), was significantly reduced by glucagon (1000 nM), which raises cyclic AMP, and by forskolin (1-10 microM), a non specific activator of adenylate cyclase. Glucagon and forskolin also decreased iNOS expression in RIN5F cells, and rat and human islets, as shown by Western blotting. The inhibitory action of IL-1beta (100 pM, 24 h) on rat islet insulin secretion was partially reversed by 1-h pre-treatment with glucagon (10-1000 nM), while the contrasting stimulatory effect of 48-h treatment with cytokines on insulin secretion from human islets was similarly prevented by glucagon (1000 nM) pre-treatment. These results suggest that glucagon inhibits iNOS expression in insulin-containing cells and imply that glucagon could modulate the inhibitory effects of cytokines.

Animals↗

Insulin secretion, DNA damage, and apoptosis in human and rat islets of Langerhans following exposure to nitric oxide, peroxynitrite, and cytokines.

Cytokine-induced damage may contribute to destruction of insulin-secreting beta-cells in islets of Langerhans during autoimmune diabetes. There is considerable controversy (i) whether human and rat islets respond differently to cytokines, (ii) the extent to which cytokine damage is mediated by induction of nitric oxide formation, and (iii) whether the effects of nitric oxide on islets can be distinguished from those of reactive oxygen species or peroxynitrite. We have analyzed rat and human islet responses in parallel, 48 h after exposure to the nitric oxide donor S-nitrosoglutathione, the mixed donor 3-morpholinosydnonimine, hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase, peroxynitrite, and combined cytokines (interleukin-1beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma). Insulin secretory response to glucose, insulin content, DNA strand breakage, and early-to-late stage apoptosis were recorded in each experiment. Rat islet insulin secretion was reduced by S-nitrosoglutathione or combined cytokines, but unexpectedly increased by peroxynitrite or hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase. Effects on human islet insulin secretion were small; cytokines and S-nitrosoglutathione decreased insulin content. Both rat and human islets showed significant and similar levels of DNA damage following all treatments. Apoptosis in neonatal rat islets was increased by every treatment, but was at a low rate in adult rat or human islets and only achieved significance with cytokine treatment of human islets. All cytokine responses were blocked by an arginine analogue. We conclude: (i) Reactive oxygen species increased and nitric oxide decreased insulin secretory responsiveness in rat islets. (ii) Species differences lie mainly in responses to cytokines, applied at a lower dose and shorter time than in most studies of human islets. (iii) Cytokine effects were nitric oxide driven; neither reactive oxygen species nor peroxynitrite reproduced cytokine effects. (iv) Rat and human islets showed equal susceptibility to DNA damage. (v) Apoptosis was not the preferred death pathway in adult islets. (vi) We have found no evidence of human donor variation in the pattern of response to these treatments.

Adult↗

Isolation, culture and functional evaluation of islets of Langerhans.

The collagenase digestion phase of islet isolation is variable and unpredictable. This results partly from the vagaries of collagenase itself but also from the complex effects of organ retrieval and storage on collagenase digestion. Improvements in the purification of islets by density gradient centrifugation will not result from the production of new density gradient media, but rather from the continued modification of the biochemical composition of the solvents in which established gradient media are dissolved. The challenge is to produce solutions that will minimise acinar tissue swelling without compromising islet yield and viability. It is sobering to note the low recovery of islets after 48-h tissue culture (56%), and it has to be concluded that present tissue culture techniques for human and porcine islets are inadequate. Part of the problem is that the media and techniques used for islet tissue culture were designed for single cell culture and were not formulated specifically for the culture of insulin-producing mini-organs with a high metabolic rate. Cell viability is notoriously difficult to quantify, and this is no less true for isolated islets than for other tissues. The main problem is that although it is possible to determine the viability of isolated islets by measuring specific cellular functions such as glucose-stimulated insulin release, it is impossible to compare this with the same function performed by islets within the native pancreas. For this reason, it is not possible in absolute terms to determine the effect of islet isolation on islet viability.

Animals↗

Development of an ostomy competency.

Staff educators and staff nurses developed an ostomy competency, with the guidance and expertise of the advanced practitioner and enterostomal nurse at a large teaching hospital. The competency improved the quality of care for surgical ostomy patients. Care was standardized and staff nurses' clinical knowledge was enhanced. Following the sessions, staff nurses verbalized increased confidence in working with patients with ostomies and demonstrated increased autonomy and problem-solving abilities. No variances in educational aspects of care were noted on clinical pathways.

Clinical Competence↗

Influence of different collagenase solvents and timing of their delivery on porcine islet isolation.

Methods to minimize the effect of cold ischaemia on porcine islet isolation were investigated. Forty pancreata were randomized to intraductal collagenase delivery in University of Wisconsin solution (UW) or Hanks balanced salt solution (HBSS) (control) both before and after 65 min of cold pancreas storage. Collagenase was also administered in a specially designed cold storage solution (University of Leicester solution, ULEIC), before cold storage. Median islet yield was significantly greater if the pancreas was distended with collagenase in either UW (21524 islet equivalents (IEQ) per g) or ULEIC (19814 IEQ/g) before cold storage, compared with that after distension with HBSS (6924 IEQ/g) following cold storage (P < 0.05). Islet fragmentation, islet purification and glucose-stimulated insulin release were not significantly different after collagenase delivery in either UW or ULEIC compared with those after administration in HBSS. It is concluded that porcine islet yields can be improved significantly by intraductal collagenase administration in either UW or ULEIC immediately after excision of the pancreas.

Adenosine↗

Functional studies of rat, porcine, and human pancreatic islets cultured in ten commercially available media.

There have been no extensive studies investigating the effect of tissue culture media on the in vitro functional characteristics of rat, porcine and human Islets of Langerhans. We therefore aimed to compare ten commercially available tissue culture media on the basis of their ability to maintain islet viability. Following isolation, islets were cultured free-floating in the ten media (RPMI 1640-11mM glucose (control), RPMI 1640-2.2mM glucose, Dulbecco's MEM, TCM 199, CMRL 1066, Iscove's MEM, Waymouth's MEM, Serum-Free medium, Ex-cell 300, Ham's F-12) and viability was assessed after 24 hr, 3 days, and 7 days on the basis of macroscopic appearance, cell membrane integrity, and insulin secretion in response to glucose stimulation both by dynamic incubation and by perifusion. Each islet species demonstrated physiological insulin release characteristics in all media--however, it was possible to distinguish between the media by comparing the stimulation indices calculated from the insulin release studies. Significantly higher stimulation indices were produced in Iscove's MEM for rat islets, in Ham's F-12 for porcine islets and in CMRL 1066 for human islets. Over the entire culture period a significant deterioration in function was observed in all species cultured in the control media, although this was reversed when islets were cultured in the optimal media. Furthermore, in the case of porcine and human islets a significant improvement in function over the seven-day period was noted in the optimal media. In conclusion, of the commercially available media, the optimal tissue culture medium for rat islets is Iscove's MEM, for porcine islets is Ham's F-12, and for human islets is CMRL 1066.

Animals↗

Islet microencapsulation: a review.

The original report on the microencapsulation of islets of Langerhans used sodium alginate and poly-L-lysine (PLL) to form the capsules. Although several alternative materials have subsequently been used with vary-mg degrees of success, it is those studies using islets encapsulated in alginate-PLL-alginate which are reviewed in detail in this article. Since the first report of islet microencapsulation, many studies have demonstrated excellent in vitro viability of encapsulated islets. However, transplantation experiments into chemically induced diabetic recipients have yielded varied results, with some studies showing good long-term graft function whilst in others grafts failed due to pericapsular fibrosis. The use of naturally occurring animal models of type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes has demonstrated a decline in graft function, suggesting that this presents a more complex problem to be solved than that in chemically induced diabetic recipients. Fibrosis of capsules has been the major problem causing graft failure, and this has been demonstrated to be more severe in spontaneously diabetic models. However, recent advances in alginate purification and attempts to reduce the size of the encapsulated islets are major steps towards encapsulated islet transplants becoming a viable proposition for the treatment of type 1 diabetic patients.

Alginates↗