Table 1.

Quality assessment of pancreatic islets obtained by each method of purification

Method	Purity (%)	Yield (islets/pancreas)	Viability (%)	Stimulation index
Handpicking	98.50 ± 0.23	170 ± 9	84.99 ± 2.64	3.76 ± 0.85
Filtration	98.79 ± 0.12	101 ± 7*	94.60 ± 1.55†	2.12 ± 0.34
Histopaque	99.70 ± 0.12‡	155 ± 8	85.40 ± 2.58	4.82 ± 1.13

Data displayed are islet purity (%), assessed by dithizone staining before handpicking counting; yield, expressed as the absolute number of islets obtained per pancreas after handpicking; viability, assessed by FDA/IP staining by fluorescence microscopy; and SI calculated by dividing the mean insulin released by the islets in the high-glucose medium by the mean insulin released from the initial low-glucose medium. The numbers shown are the mean ± SEM of four independent experiments each involving six mice

*,†,‡ p < 0.05 by Kruskal–Wallis test and Dunn’s multiple comparison test