Twenty Years of Clinical Islet Transplantation at the Diabetes Research Institute – University of Miami
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1 CHAPTER Twenty Years of Clinical Islet Transplantation at the Diabetes Research Institute – University of Miami A. Pileggi, C. Ricordi, N.S. Kenyon, T. Froud, D.A. Baidal, A. Kahn, G. Selvaggi, and R. Alejandro Clinical Islet Transplant Program and Cell Transplant Center, Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami - Leonard Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida Intensive insulin therapy with the goal of maintain- lowing pancreatectomy due to pain associated with ing blood glucose concentrations close to the normal chronic pancreatitis, benign neoplasm, or trauma)(9-15). range can delay or prevent the onset of diabetes compli- Transplantation of allogeneic islets is mainly performed cations in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus in patients with T1DM: allogeneic islets have been trans- (T1DM)(1). This goal is difficult to achieve in the major- planted in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) ity of patients and is associated with a three-fold increase together with the kidney (simultaneous islet and kidney; in severe hypoglycemia. Transplantation of pancreatic SIK) and in patients with a stable kidney allograft (islet islets in patients with T1DM can restore β–cell function after kidney; IAK)(16-22). In recent years, transplanta- and provide a more physiological glycemic control than tion of allogeneic islets has also been performed as islet ISLETS - MIAMI, FLORIDA exogenous insulin administration (2). transplantation alone (ITA) in patients with brittle diabe- Steady progress in the field of β–cell replacement tes characterized by hypoglycemia unawareness and has been observed in recent years (2, 3), starting from progressive diabetes complications for which the risk of the seminal work by Lacy, et al (4, 5) in the late 1960s life-threatening hypoglycemia overweighed those of the demonstrating reversal of hyperglycemia by islet trans- transplantation procedure and chronic immunosuppres- plantation in diabetic rodents. Numerous challenges sion (23-31). In a smaller number of cases, transplanta- have been overcome, while many still remain unsolved tion of allogeneic islets has also been performed for dis- (2, 3). Technological advances in organ procurement eases of the exocrine pancreas in patients with pancre- and preservation techniques together with improvements atectomy-induced diabetes (32-38), metabolic disorders in pancreatic islet isolation, purification and culture have such as cystic fibrosis, hemochromatosis, and liver cir- allowed for the increasing success rate of islet transplan- rhosis (39-44) in combination with lung or liver transplan- tation worldwide. Implementation of safer transplanta- tation, respectively, and in few patients with type 2 DM tion procedures has also contributed to the increasing (T2DM) (45, 46). numbers of transplants performed in the recent years. A It has been twenty years since the first islet trans- total of 493 allogeneic islet transplants (including histori- plant was performed by the Clinical Islet Transplant Pro- cal cases) and 240 autologous grafts from 51 centers gram (CITP) at the Diabetes Research Institute / Univer- (18 North American, 30 European, and 6 elsewhere) were sity of Miami School of Medicine. One hundred-one islet published by the International Islet Transplant Registry infusions have been performed in 73 patients during this in 2001 (6). In light of the increasing number of centers period. Here we present an overview of the activity of performing islet transplantation, the National Institute of our CITP and of the progress in the islet transplantation Health sponsored a North American Collaborative Islet field in recent years. Transplant Registry (CITR) that was established in 2001 METHODS (7, 8). Transplantation of autologous islets is currently a Human Cell Processing Facility. The Diabetes Re- therapeutic option for a number of diseases of the exo- search Institute - University of Miami School of Medicine crine pancreas leading to DM (iatrogenic diabetes fol- was the first academic research center to house a cur- Clinical Transplants 2004, Cecka and Terasaki, Eds. UCLA Immunogenetics Center, Los Angeles, California 2 PILEGGI, RICORDI, KENYON, ET AL rent Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) facility dedi- gies, National Disease Research Interchange, Interna- cated exclusively to human islet cell isolation. This facil- tional Bioresearch Solutions, and International Institute ity operates following cGMP and Food and Drug Admin- for the Advancement of Medicine. istration regulations to ensure the highest standards of Organ harvesting is performed using standard tech- quality, purity, potency and safety for medical products niques by the surgical team (either local or distant), gen- destined for human use (47, 48). In addition to the isola- erally consisting of the removal of the gland along with tion of human islets for research or clinical trials, the duodenum and spleen (49). The pancreas is collected cGMP facility is also utilized for manufacturing human and stored in University of Wisconsin (UW) solution bone marrow cells (BMC). The Cell Processing and Dis- (DuPont-Pharma; Wilmington, Delaware) on ice and tribution Center of our cGMP facility currently provides shipped to our processing facility within 12 hours. In the human islets, as well as other cells, to more than 50 col- 2000’s, the use of oxygen carrier moieties laborating scientists worldwide. The cGMP facility in- (Perfluorodecalin; FluoroMEd, L.P.) was introduced in cludes clean room suites, and various laboratory sup- order to reduce ischemic injury during preservation (50, port areas over approximately 16,000 square feet. The 51). Briefly, the gland is immersed in preservation solu- access to the facility is restricted to authorized cGMP tion and maintained at the interface between oxygen- personnel only. The clean room suites meet ISO Class ated perfluorocarbon and UW (the two-layer method; 7 (ISO 14644) requirements with HEPA-filtered air con- TLM), as described by Kuroda, et al (52), and transported ditioning. Procedures pertaining to required dirty/clean to the cell processing laboratory within 24 hours. The flow patterns and directions are enforced by standard TLM is currently utilized in most of the pancreata ob- operating procedures, training, management and facility tained at our center, allowing us to improve islet yields design. All procedures, processes and equipment are even from marginal donors (51), and therefore improv- periodically validated, and testing ensures that they op- ing the utilization of islet preparations processed for trans- erate according to the pre-established performance plantation. specifications. Islet Isolation. Islets are obtained using the auto- Pancreas Procurement and Preservation. Human mated method (53) consisting of a mechanically-en- pancreatic glands are obtained from multi-organ cadav- hanced enzymatic digestion of the pancreas. Briefly, the eric donors through the University of Miami Organ Pro- pancreatic gland is dissected-free from surrounding tis- curement Organization (OPO) part of UNOS Region 3. sue. After dividing the pancreas through its neck, retro- Other OPO’s offering pancreata for clinical and research grade injection of dissociation buffer in the pancreatic to our facility include: Gift of Life, LifeGift, LifeQuest, duct is performed. Since the 1990’s, we use the en- LifePoint, The Sharing Network, LifeNet, Arkansas Re- zyme blend Liberase HI ® (Boehringer Mannheim-Roche) gional Organ Recovery Agency, Center for Donation and characterized by reduced endotoxin contamination and Transplantation, Translife, Washington Regional Trans- higher reproducibility, when compared to other collage- plant Consortium, Life Connection of Ohio, LifeSource, nase blends; this has significantly contributed to improved LifeCenter NorthWest, SouthWest Transplant Alliance, islet yields from human pancreata (54-57). New Mexico Organ Donor Network, New England Or- After distension, the pancreatic gland is divided into gan Bank, Hawaii, Life Legacy, Carolina Donor Services, 9-11 pieces and placed into the dissociation chamber. and other organizations like Tissue Transfer Technolo- The chamber (Fig. 1A) consists of two portions divided Figure 1. Human islet isolation. The dissociation chamber (A) is a key element of the isolation process. It allows the efficient dissociation of the pancreatic tissue and enhances the effects of the enzymatic digestion. A peristaltic pump permits the circula- tion of the enzyme through the chamber via a circuit of tubes (B). Agitation of the dissociation chamber enhances the enzyme action, and the automated mechanical shaker (C) allows one to standardize the force applied to the chamber. After digestion, the pancreatic slurry is collected (D) and concentrated by centrifugation. Close monitor- ing of multiple variables may be of assistance to improve the outcome of the isolation (E). Samples of the pancreatic digest are collected (F) in order to assess islet number and appearance (G). Islets can be easily identified by the means of dithizone staining that confers red color to endocrine cells. Purification of 3 ISLETS - MIAMI, FLORIDA the islets from the non-endocrine pancreatic tissue is performed using a computerized COBE centrifuge (H) by sedimentation on continuous or discontinuous gradients (I). The purified fractions are collected and assessed for purity and counted (J-K) before being cultured (L). All procedures are performed under cGMP standard following SOP and maintaining documentation (M). 4 PILEGGI,