Despite the advent of insulin for clinical use in 1922, our ability to control hyperglyยญ cemia and prevent the long term sequelae ofthe disease remains limited. Thus normalization of the milieu interieur with physiologic responses of insulin and metabolites remains an elusive but critically important goal. The developing endocrine pancreas provides a model system that speaks to many challenges of the transplantation biologist. Thus the attempt to of vascularization, growth and development, immunologic tolerยญ recapitulate the ontogeny ance, and glucose responsive insulin secretory capacity of fetal islet tissue provides a tantalizing possibility to replace insulin secreting tissue in persons with diabetes. Studies of this tissue are also important because of the implications such investigations have for genetic and molecular biological approaches to restoring insulin secretion as well as for providing clues to enhancing the growth and repair of islets that have been the target of autoimmune disease. Investigators in the area offetal islet transplantation comprise a small group scattered throughout the world scientific community. Therefore it seemed important to provide a forum where these scientists could gather, share ideas, and achieve consensus such that progress in this rapidly evolving area could be facilitated. The conference would have remained a dream if the support of the Okla Basil Meade, Jr. family had not made it manifest
CONTENT
1. Protocols for Enhancing Function of Fetal Islets in Vitro and following Transplantation -- 2. Expression of Two Non-Allelic REG Genes in the Developing Human Pancreas: Effects in Vitro of Nicotinamide and Maternal Growth Factors -- 3. Preparation of Fetal Islets for Transplantation: Importance of Growth Factors -- 4. Studies of Fetal Porcine Islet-like Cell Clustersโ{128}{148}A Tissue Source for Xenotransplantation in Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus? -- 5. Basic Biology of Pig Fetal Pancreas and Its Use as an Allograft -- 6. Combined Transplantation of Adult and Fetal Islets for Improvement of Graft Function: Prospective Approach for Diabetes Treatment -- 7. Studies on Pretreatment of Human Fetal Islet in Vitro and Clinical Islet Transplantation in China -- 8. The Use of Human Fetal Islet Tissue for Adjunctive Treatment in Insulin-Dependent Diabetic Patients: The Case for โ{128}{156}Partial Successโ{128}{157} -- 9. Long-Term Studies with Cultured and Cryopreserved Human Fetal Islets for Islet Transplantation in Hungary -- 10. Fetal Islet Transplantation and Pregnancy -- 11. Encapsulated Human Islet Transplant Trials in Type I Diabetic Patients -- 12. Optimal Surveillance of Diabetic Eye Disease -- 13. Detection of Pancreatic Islet Transplant Rejection -- 14. Networking for the Collection of Fetal Islet Tissues -- 15. Consensus Session Summary: Second International Symposium on Fetal Islet Transplantation -- Contributors
