Protective effect of allopurinol, alpha-tocopherol and chlorpromazine on rat pancreatic islets stored prior to transplantation.

Iso-transplantation of 800 isolated rat pancreatic islets into the portal vein of diabetic rats was performed. Isolated islets were kept in Hanks buffer for 12 hours prior to transplantation. Part of donors was pretreated with allopurinol, alpha-tocopherol and chlorpromazine. Transplantation of islets isolated from nonpretreated rats did not cause any significant changes in plasma glucose concentration of recipients, while transplantation of islets isolated from donors after pretreatment with the tested substances brought glucose level back to normal 3 days after transplantation. Our results indicate that the combination of free radical scavengers, antioxidants and membrane stabilizing drugs may be used to increase the effectiveness of islet transplantation in humans.