Effects of islet transplantation on the recipient endocrine pancreas.

Streptozotocin diabetic rats were treated with a syngeneic splenic islet transplantation. 17 weeks later the insulin content and the beta-cell mass were investigated in the host pancreas and compared with untreated diabetic or normal rats. The diabetic animals retained 8% of beta-cells, and 2.5% of insulin content as compared with normal controls. Successfully grafted rats are characterized by an increase of beta-cell volume (420%) and insulin content (2350%) in comparison to untreated diabetic rats. However, a detailed individual analysis revealed a marked differentiation between the animals investigated, the cause of which remains to be clarified.