Fig. 1.

Porcine islet transplants and graft function. (a–c) Daily blood glucose levels (BGLs) at 120 days post-transplant were superior in pigs with kidney-transplanted grafts (n = 6) (a) compared with those with liver capsule-transplanted grafts (n = 6) (c) and the most inferior spleen-transplanted grafts (n = 6) (p = 0.007) (b). Arrow indicates native pancreatectomy. (d–f) Islet function was determined by IVGTT. Blood glucose response was superior in pigs with kidney-transplanted grafts (n = 6) (d) compared with spleen-transplanted grafts (n = 6) (e); peak BGL, **p < 0.01 for spleen vs kidney graft recipients, and no different in pigs with liver capsule-transplanted grafts (n = 6) (f). †p < 0.05 for time to return to baseline glucose vs both kidney and liver-graft recipients. Recipients with kidney-transplanted grafts had the fastest return to basal glucose of 60 min, followed by liver capsule-transplanted recipients at 72 min and spleen-transplanted recipients at 118 min. (g–i) The insulin response (measured by RIA) was better in pigs with kidney-transplanted grafts (g) than in those with spleen-transplanted grafts (h) (^¶¶ p < 0.01); there was a lower response in recipients of islet transplants into liver capsule (i) (not statistically significant, p = 0.068 vs kidney). The kidney-transplanted graft had slower initial insulin peak and significant second-phase insulin release