Assessment of isolated islet equivalents • Cell Transplant Society 1996 • @1MEMO 20251205

Assessment of isolated islet equivalents • Cell Transplant Society 1996 • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • 1MEMO_20251205_1 • Poster 3rd International Congress Cell Transplant Society, Miami (USA) Sep 29 – Oct 2, 1996 • TakeNode 1300e7cd-85a4-4cd0-9cbc-a88746e625ab • #IEQ #diabetes #islets #transplant #methods #CTRMS

IEQ – Islet Equivalent

IEQ islet stands for Islet Equivalent, a standard unit used to measure the total volume of islets (clusters of insulin cells and other hormone-producing cells in the pancreas). It is defined as a single spherical islet with a diameter of 150 µm. The IEQ is a crucial parameter for assessing the quantity of islets for procedures like clinical islet transplantation, which is a treatment for type 1 diabetes.

Modified international procedure

Following a consensus report in 1989 – 1990 by Ricordi et al (1a, 1b) on islet isolation assessment, the total volume of isolated islets is generally expressed in the number of islet equivalents (IEQs) — defined as islets of 150 µm diameter— and many centers use the advocated now classic international procedure (CIP) of sizing all islets in classes with 50-µm increments (i.e., 50–100, 100–150, etc.) for calculation of the number of IEQs. For each class the number of IEQs are calculated by multiplying the islet counts with a conversion factor — based on the mean volume of that class.

A modified international procedure — based on our conventional Leiden procedure (2,3) with islet sizing in classes with 25-µm increments — is suggested for accurate assessment of the IEQs especially when isolation yields mostly smaller islets, in our paper ‘Assessment of isolated islet equivalents’ presented at the 3rd International Congress Cell Transplant Society, Miami (USA) Sep 29 – Oct 2, 1996, in both a poster (4) , and proceedings paper (5). A photo of the original poster , (retrieved somewhat wrinkled 30 years later from my archive), is posted here, as well as a pdf from the (corrected proof) manuscript of the proceedings paper below (6).

The Cell Transplant Society was founded in 1991, and has been renamed the Cell Transplant and Regenerative Medicine Society (CTRMS).

Notes

1a. Ricordi C, Gray DW, Hering BJ, Kaufman DB, Warnock GL, Kneteman NM, Lake SP, London NJ, Socci C, Alejandro R, et al. Islet isolation assessment in man and large animals. Acta Diabetol Lat. 1990 Jul-Sep;27(3):185-95. doi: 10.1007/BF02581331. PMID: 2075782.

1b. Quantitative And Qualitative Standards For Islet Isolation Assessment In Man And Large Mammals. International Workshop during the 2nd Congress on Pancreas and Islet Transplantation (1989). Camillo Ricordi. Archive Michel van der Burg • Miracles•Media • 1MEMO_20251206_07 . Available from Dec 6, 2025 URL https://michelvanderburg.com/2025/12/06/

2. Van der Burg MPM, Guicherit OR, Frölich M, Scherft JP, Prins FA, Bruijn JA, Gooszen HG. Assessment of islet isolation efficacy in dogs. Cell Transplant. 1994 Jan-Feb;3(1):91-101. doi: 10.1177/096368979400300113. PMID: 8162296.

3. Paper (Notes 2) included as Chapter 3 in my doctoral thesis (Leiden University, November 1994) : Assessment of islet isolation efficacy in dogs. In : Van der Burg MPM. Pancreatic islet transplantation: studies on the technique and efficacy of islet isolation and transplantation ( Chapter 3). (Doctoral Thesis, Leiden University, 1994), Paperback (1994, Nov 9) Boskoop: Van der Burg (ISBN 9080216410); E-book (2022, Oct 25) Boskoop: Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media ( ISBN 9789080216402). Retrieved (Nov 24th, 2025) from Leiden University Scholarly Publications, Persistent URL https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3486604 . Direct link to file Chapter 3 , URL https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A3486610/view

4. Van der Burg MPM, Scheringa M, Basir I, Bouwman E. Assessment of isolated islet equivalents. Poster presented at the Third Int. Congress Cell Transplant Soc., Miami (USA) Sept. 29 – Oct. 2, 1996.
In : Assessment of isolated islet equivalents • Cell Transplant Society 1996 • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20251205 • URL https://michelvanderburg.com/2025/12/05 • File 1MEMO_20251205_1 • TakeNode 1300e7cd-85a4-4cd0-9cbc-a88746e625ab

5. Van der Burg MPM, Scheringa M, Basir I, Bouwman E. Assessment of isolated islet equivalents. Transplant Proc. 1997 Jun;29(4):1971-1973. doi: 10.1016/s0041-1345(97)00188-7. PMID: 9193483.

6. Manuscript (corrected proof for Transplant Proc paper PMID: 9193483). Van der Burg MPM, Scheringa M, Basir I, Bouwman E. Assessment of isolated islet equivalents • 1MEMO_20251205_2 • TakeNode 48380f3c-b3f7-416e-90bb-ad6c53129e46 • PDF available below , File 1MEMO_20251205_2

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#IEQ #diabetes #islets #transplant #methods #CTRMS

Citation info : Assessment of isolated islet equivalents • Cell Transplant Society 1996 • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20251205 • TakeNode 1300e7cd-85a4-4cd0-9cbc-a88746e625ab / 48380f3c-b3f7-416e-90bb-ad6c53129e46 • URL https://michelvanderburg.com/2025/12/05

Glycemic control mechanisms after canine islet autografting • IPITA 1995• @1MEMO 20251204

Glycemic control mechanisms after canine islet autografting • IPITA 1995 • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20251204_1 • Talk, Tuesday June 20, 1995 at 10:30, 5th IPITA, Eden Roc Resort Hotel, Miami Beach, FL (USA) • Digitally remastered by author, publisher, Michel van der Burg • TakeNode 5227c200-e029-4406-b344-15350fe3b93d • #GLP1 #GIP #diabetes #islets #transplant

Pioneer work on GLP-1 and GIP incretin hormones

Slideshow (digitally remastered) of my talk Tuesday June 20, 1995 at 10:30, at the 5th International Congress on Pancreas and Islet Transplantation (IPITA), in Miami Beach, FL (USA). My first talk at a world congress presenting the outcome of all our detailed metabolic studies in our preclinical model of canine islet autotransplantation , including our pioneer work on the incretin effects of the gut hormones GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) and GIP (Glucose-dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide) — now, in 2025, well-known from the drugs that mimic the action of these natural hormones, to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity, by stimulating insulin release, improving blood sugar control, and reducing appetite.

May 1992 we were the first to show direct potentiation of the insulin response from isolated islets by (near-)physiological doses of both the gut hormones GLP-1 and GIP during perifusion (in vitro) of canine islets at 7.5-10 mM glucose levels (1,2), and January 1994 we next confirmed the incretin effect of a (near-)physiological dose of GLP-1 after canine islet transplantation , in a poster presented at the 13th Workshop of the AIDSPIT (aka AIDPIT) Study Group , Igls, Austria, January 23–25, 1994 (3).

Background of the work was posted earlier this year (4) and the work was published Nov 1994 in my PhD thesis Pancreatic islet transplantation , available online (5).

Welcome Reception 5th IPITA on Sunday 18 June 1995, at the congress venue , the Eden Roc Resort Hotel, in Miami Beach, FL (USA) • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20251204_2 • TakeNode 8eb04df1-8280-4de3-a206-4b63413c3025

June 1995, 5th IPITA Talk

Tuesday June 20, 1995 at 10:30, at the 5th International Congress on Pancreas and Islet Transplantation (IPITA), in Miami Beach, FL (USA), was my first talk at a world congress presenting the outcome of all our detailed metabolic studies in the canine islet transplants , including the incretin effect of GLP-1, and also our findings with isolated canine islets during perifusion, in vitro, of the direct insulinotropic effects of the gut hormones GIP and GLP-1 (6) . That slideshow presentation (digitally remastered*) is posted here (1MEMO 20251204_1).

The proceedings paper delivered at the 5th IPITA is included in the Notes (7) , as well as the referenced previous papers (8,9)

Notes

1. Van der Burg MPM, Guicherit OR, Scherft JP, Frölich M, Terpstra JL, Gooszen HG. Functie na intralienale transplantatie van eilandjes van Langerhans in de hond ( Function after intrasplenic transplantation of islets of Langerhans in dogs ). Surgeon days ’92 of the Dutch Surgery Society, Rotterdam (The Netherlands) May 21–22, 1992. In : Gut factors controlling pancreatic islets • 20240910 • Michel van der Burg • michelvanderburg•com • URL https://michelvanderburg.com/2024/09/10/gut-factors-controlling-pancreatic-islets-20240910/

2. Van der Burg MPM, Guicherit OR, Frölich M, Gooszen HG. Insulinotropic effects of cholecystokinin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide and glucagon-like peptide-1 during perifusion of short-term cultured canine isolated islets. Regul Pept. 1995 Dec 7;60(1):61-7. doi: 10.1016/0167-0115(95)00122-4. PMID: 8747785.

3. Metabolic control after canine islet transplantation. M.P.M. van der Burg, P.T.R. van Suylichem, O.R. Guicherit, J.H.M. van Deijnen, M. Frölich, and H.G. Gooszen (Universities of Leiden & Groningen, The Netherlands). Poster presented at the 13th Workshop of the AIDSPIT Study Group , Igls, Austria, January 23–25, 1994 • In : GLP-1 blood sugar regulation in islet transplants • AIDSPIT 1994 • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20251114 • TakeNode 810cc881-d084-4d2e-b252-d432918b1946 • URL https://michelvanderburg.com/2025/11/14

4. Background of this work was posted in Dutch Islets Transplant Team • @1MEMO 20250125 • URL https://michelvanderburg.com/2025/01/25/dutch-islets-transplant-team-1memo-20250125/

5. Van der Burg MPM. Pancreatic islet transplantation: studies on the technique and efficacy of islet isolation and transplantation. (Doctoral Thesis, Leiden University, 1994), Paperback (1994, Nov 9) Boskoop: Van der Burg (ISBN 9080216410); E-book (2022, Oct 25) Boskoop: Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media ( ISBN 9789080216402). Retrieved (Dec 4th, 2025) from Leiden University Scholarly Publications, Persistent URL https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3486604 .

6. Oral presentation : Van der Burg MPM, Van Suylichem PTR, Guicherit OR, Frölich M, Lemkes HHPJ, Gooszen HG. Glycemic control mechanisms after canine islet autografting. 5th International Congress on Pancreas and Islet Transplantation (IPITA), Miami Beach (USA) June 20, 1995.

7. 5th IPITA Proceedings publication : Van der Burg MPM, Van Suylichem PTR, Guicherit OR, Frölich M, Lemkes HHPJ, Gooszen HG. Glycemic control mechanisms after canine islet autografting. Transplant Proc. 1995 Dec;27(6):3187-8. PMID: 8539903. PDF available below PMID_8539903

PMID_8539903 Download

Referenced previous publications :

8. Van der Burg MPM, Gooszen HG. The metabolic efficiency of islet grafts: an overview. In: Islet transplantation — current status of clinical application and experimental results. Hesse UJ , Pichlmaier H, Eds., Lengerich Germany, Wolfgang Pabst Verlag, 1992, p.93–99. Pabst hash code 0383b3abad3ae774b146ea0425c2227a PDF available below 1MEMO_20251204_4

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9. Van der Burg MPM, Guicherit OR, Scherft JP, Lemkes HHPJ, Frölich M, Gooszen HG. Postprandial performance after canine islet transplantation: the importance of gut factors (Abstract). Neth J Med 1992; 41: A25. PDF available below 1MEMO_20251204_3

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Other previous publications :

10. Van der Burg MPM, Guicherit OR, Van Suylichem PTR, Frölich M, Van Deijnen JHM, Gooszen HG. Importance of the entero-insular axis for islet graft function (Abstract). Cell Transplant 1994; 3: 257. Abstract – Second International Congress of the Cell Transplant Society May 1–4, 1994 Hyatt Regency Hotel • Minneapolis, Minnesota . https://doi.org/10.1177/096368979400300302 (Abstracts published , posters not presented). PDF available below 10.1177_096368979400300302

10.1177_096368979400300302 Download

11. Chapter 8, Doctoral Thesis, Leiden University, November 1994 : Metabolic control after intrasplenic islet autotransplantation in dogs: ß-cell secretory capacity, insulin action, and the enteroinsular axis. Michael P.M. van der Burg, Paul T.R. van Suylichem, Onna R. Guicherit, Marijke Frölich, Herman H.P.J. Lemkes, and Hein G. Gooszen. In : Van der Burg MPM. Pancreatic islet transplantation: studies on the technique and efficacy of islet isolation and transplantation ( Chapter 8). (Doctoral Thesis, Leiden University, 1994), Paperback (1994, Nov 9) Boskoop: Van der Burg (ISBN 9080216410); E-book (2022, Oct 25) Boskoop: Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media ( ISBN 9789080216402). Retrieved (Nov 24th, 2025) from Leiden University Scholarly Publications, Persistent URL https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3486604 .
Direct link to file Chapter 8 , URL https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A3486615/view .

12. Doctoral Thesis, Leiden University, November 1994 (Chapter 6) : lnsulinotropic properties of cholecystokinin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide, and glucagon-like peptide-1 during perifusion of short-term cultured canine isolated islets. Michael P.M. van der Burg, Onna R. Guicherit, Marijke Frölich and Hein G. Gooszen. In : Van der Burg MPM. Pancreatic islet transplantation: studies on the technique and efficacy of islet isolation and transplantation ( Chapter 6). (Doctoral Thesis, Leiden University, 1994), Paperback (1994, Nov 9) Boskoop: Van der Burg (ISBN 9080216410); E-book (2022, Oct 25) Boskoop: Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media ( ISBN 9789080216402). Retrieved (Nov 24th, 2025) from Leiden University Scholarly Publications, Persistent URL https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3486604 .
Direct link to file Chapter 6 , URL https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A3486613/view

Full papers

13. Van der Burg MPM, Guicherit OR, Frölich M, Gooszen HG. Insulinotropic effects of cholecystokinin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide and glucagon-like peptide-1 during perifusion of short-term cultured canine isolated islets. Regul Pept. 1995 Dec 7;60(1):61-7. doi: 10.1016/0167-0115(95)00122-4. PMID: 8747785.

14. Van der Burg MPM, Van Suylichem PTR, Guicherit OR, Frölich M, Lemkes HHPJ, Gooszen HG. Glucoregulation after canine islet transplantation: contribution of insulin secretory capacity, insulin action, and the entero-insular axis. Cell Transplant. 1997 Sep-Oct;6(5):497-503. doi: 10.1177/096368979700600509. PMID: 9331501. PDF link https://pure.rug.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/58359942/096368979700600509.pdf

* 1MEMO 20251204_1 . Digitally remastered presentation, using the images from the original slides handout, and the handout of the text spoken during the original presentation , now read using my personal synthesized voice.

#GLP1 #GIP #diabetes #islets #transplant

Citation info : Glycemic control mechanisms after canine islet autografting • IPITA 1995 • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20251204 • URL https://michelvanderburg.com/2025/12/04

GLP-1 blood sugar regulation in islet transplants • AIDSPIT 1994 • @1MEMO 20251114

Poster 13th Workshop of the AIDSPIT Study Group , Igls (Austria) January 23–25, 1994• Digitally remastered by author, publisher, M.P.M. van der Burg • Miracles•Media • 20251114 • TakeNode 810cc881-d084-4d2e-b252-d432918b1946 • #GLP1

GLP-1 blood sugar regulation in islet transplants

GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) is now well-known from the anti-diabetic drugs that mimic the action of this natural hormone GLP-1, to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity. They work by stimulating insulin release, reducing glucagon secretion, slowing stomach emptying, and suppressing appetite, which leads to lower blood sugar and weight loss.

May 1992 we were the first to show direct potentiation of the insulin response from isolated islets by a (near-)physiological dose of the gut hormone GLP-1 during perifusion (in vitro) of canine islets at 7.5-10 mM glucose levels (1,2).

Jan 1994 we next showed this incretin effect of GLP-1 also after islet transplantation (in vivo, in dogs) in this poster (3) and abstract (4) presented at the 13th Workshop of the AIDSPIT (aka AIDPIT) Study Group , Igls, Austria, January 23–25, 1994.

Background of the work was posted earlier this year (5) and the work was published Nov 1994 in my PhD thesis Pancreatic islet transplantation , available online (6).

Notes

1) Van der Burg MPM, Guicherit OR, Scherft JP, Frölich M, Terpstra JL, Gooszen HG. Function after intrasplenic transplantation of islets of Langerhans in dogs (translated from dutch: Functie na intralienale transplantatie van eilandjes van Langerhans in de hond). Surgeon days ’92 of the Dutch Surgery Society, Rotterdam (The Netherlands) May 21–22, 1992. In : Gut factors controlling pancreatic islets • 20240910 | Michel van der Burg | michelvanderburg•com URL https://michelvanderburg.com/2024/09/10/gut-factors-controlling-pancreatic-islets-20240910/

2) van der Burg MPM, Guicherit OR, Frölich M, Gooszen HG. Insulinotropic effects of cholecystokinin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide and glucagon-like peptide-1 during perifusion of short-term cultured canine isolated islets. Regul Pept. 1995 Dec 7;60(1):61-7. doi: 10.1016/0167-0115(95)00122-4. PMID: 8747785.

3) Metabolic control after canine islet transplantation. M.P.M. van der Burg, P.T.R. van Suylichem, O.R. Guicherit, J.H.M. van Deijnen, M. Frölich, and H.G. Gooszen (Universities of Leiden & Groningen, The Netherlands). Poster presented at the 13th Workshop of the AIDSPIT Study Group , Igls, Austria, January 23–25, 1994 •

4) Metabolic control after canine islet transplantation. Van der Burg M.P.M., Guicherit O.R., van Suylichem P.T.R., Frölich M., van Deijnen J.H.M. , Gooszen H.G. (Leiden, The Netherlands; Groningen, The Netherlands). Horm metab Res 1994; 26: 63. (Abstract). View/Download file 1MEMO_20251113_2

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5) Background of this work was posted in Dutch Islets Transplant Team • @1MEMO 20250125 • URL https://michelvanderburg.com/2025/01/25/dutch-islets-transplant-team-1memo-20250125/

6) Michael P.M. van der Burg. Pancreatic islet transplantation: studies on the technique and efficacy of islet isolation and transplantation. (Doctoral Thesis, Faculty of Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) , Leiden University), Boskoop: M.P.M. van der Burg | Miracles.Media (ISBN electronic, pdf, 9789080216402 ; ISBN print 9789080216419, 9080216410), 1994: 192 p. URL Thesis Repository Leiden University https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3486604

PM – Recording of the 13th AIDSPIT seminar on lessons from clinical islet transplantation was posted yesterday (7).

7) Clinical Islet Transplantation 13th AIDSPIT • @1MEMO 20251113 • URL https://michelvanderburg.com/2025/11/13/clinical-islet-transplantation-13th-aidspit-1memo-20251113/

#GLP1 #diabetes #islets #transplant #AIDSPIT

Updates

20251127 title updated – insert : AIDSPIT 1994

Citation info : GLP-1 blood sugar regulation in islet transplants • AIDSPIT 1994 • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20251114 • TakeNode 810cc881-d084-4d2e-b252-d432918b1946 • URL https://michelvanderburg.com/2025/11/14

Clinical Islet Transplantation 13th AIDSPIT • @1MEMO 20251113

Seminar on lessons from clinical islet transplantation

Chairman K. Federlin (Giessen, Germany) opened the seminar Tuesday, January 25, 1994 and David Scharp began with his lesson from the Center in St. Louis (USA) at the 13th Workshop of the AIDSPIT * Study Group , Igls, Austria, January 23–25, 1994.

Notes

Video image: Iodixanol-UWS purified human islets, stained with dithizone (March 18, 1999) • Michel van der Burg , Leiden Islet Laboratory LUMC .

Second, remastered, edition created from the 1st video edition published 20170208 via Vimeo at 1-memo.com .

* AIDSPIT later known as AIDPIT.

Recorded with Olympus mini-tape dictaphone, and re-recorded from the speaker of the dictaphone.

My presentations at the event

Cell preservation in University of Wisconsin solution during isolation of canine islets of Langerhans. Van der Burg M.P.M., Guicherit O.R., Frölich M., Gooszen H.G. (Leiden, The Netherlands) . Horm metab Res 1994; 26: 63. (Abstract). File 1MEMO_20251113_2

Metabolic control after canine islet transplantation. Van der Burg M.P.M., Guicherit O.R., van Suylichem P.T.R., Frölich M., van Deijnen J.H.M. , Gooszen H.G. (Leiden, The Netherlands; Groningen, The Netherlands). Horm metab Res 1994; 26: 63. (Abstract). File 1MEMO_20251113_2

View/Download file 1MEMO_20251113_2

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Citation info : Clinical Islet Transplantation 13th AIDSPIT • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20251113 • TakeNode 24209f1e-67d5-4540-9115-89efcc6090c9 • URL https://michelvanderburg.com/2025/11/13/clinical-islet-transplantation-13th-aidspit-1memo-20251113/

Iodixanol-UWS Human Islet Purification 1998 Abstract • @1MEMO 20251102

Front page Acta Diabetologica • Download Abstract Below

Abstract published in Acta Diabetologica 1998 of Iodixanol-UWS Human Islet Purification in 1998 at the Diabetes Research Institute in Miami. Abstracts book of the 18th Workshop of the AIDSPIT Study Group in Igls, Austria, Jan 1999.

Van der Burg MPM, Ranuncoli A, Molano R, Kirlew T, Ringers J, Bouwman E, Ricordi C. Efficacy of the novel iodixanol-UWS density gradient for human islet purification (Abstract). Acta Diabetol 1998; 35: 247.
View / Download abstract (file 1MEMO_20251102_1.pdf) below .

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Notes

Abstract added in full post :
Efficacy of the novel iodixanol-UWS density gradient for human islet purification • Igls Aidspit 1999 • 20241202 • URL michelvanderburg.com/2024/12/02 •

Citation info : Iodixanol-UWS Human Islet Purification 1998 Abstract • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20251102 • URL michelvanderburg.com/2025/11/02/

Islet Transplantation LUMC News Surprise • @1MEMO 20251020

Diabetic (dutch ‘Suikerzieke) … Parool, 6 Jan 1990 • @1MEMO 20251020

Big surprise today , to encounter this nice news article by journalist Rob van Dijk reporting on our pancreatic islet transplantation breakthrough in the Leiden University Hospital (now LUMC) in the Amsterdam based Dutch national newspaper Parool , Saturday 6 January 1990 (1).

I was searching actually for a better copy of a different news article I have archived on my clinical islet transplantation work (Newspaper Volkskrant 10 April 1999) in the Delpher archive of the National Library of the Netherlands , scrolling the search results, and noticed this Parool article – I didn’t know it existed ;)

Journalist Rob van Dijk did not interview me for the Parool, so I assume his source was the interview I gave for publication in Cicero, the biweekly LUMC publication, and the Dutch newspaper ‘Leidsch Dagblad’, and posted a year ago (2).

The articles reports (my translation from dutch*) :

Transplantation

Islet transplantation has been possible for a few years now, but it doesn’t (yet?) work in humans. The technique itself isn’t that complicated: as many islets of Langerhans as possible are extracted from a pancreas, injected into the diabetic patient’s liver or spleen, and thus, start producing insulin. However, that “thus” is still a bit tricky… …
The major problems lie in the fact that the yield of properly functioning islets is too small (at least 30 percent of the islets must be obtained undamaged to achieve sufficient insulin production after a transplant) and that the suspensions are too impure. Nevertheless, progress is being made.
The best news comes from Leiden University Hospital. There, biologist M. van der Burg, MSc has developed a method to isolate a very high and pure yield of islets from a dog’s pancreas. Van der Burg succeeded in isolating 40 percent of the vital islets from a dog’s pancreas. Through special processing, he was able to completely purify these cell clumps of 90 percent of excess and complicating pancreatic tissue. These islets were injected into the spleen of the same dog, where they produced sufficient insulin. This initial experiment has since been repeated in Leiden with several dogs with the same success. However, major challenges remain, not the least of which is the rejection problem. The Leiden experiments used the dog’s own tissue. The big question remains how the human immune system reacts when islets from a donor are injected.

*NL (dutch) quote :

Transplantatie

Sinds een paar jaar is eilandjestransplantatie wel mogelijk, alleen, bij de mens werkt het (nog?) niet. De techniek is op zichzelf niet zo ingewikkeld: men haalt zoveel mogelijk eilandjes van Langerhans uit een pancreas, spuit die bij de suikerzieke in lever of milt in en dan gaan ze dus insuline maken. Met dat ‘dus’ ligt het echter nog moeilijk… …
De grote problemen schuilen hem erin dat de oogst aan goed werkende eilandjes te gering is (men moet ten minste 30 procent van de eilandjes onbeschadigd te pakken krijgen om na een transplantatie voldoende insulineproduktie te verkrijgen) en dat de suspensies te onzuiver zijn. Toch zit er schot in.
Het beste nieuws komt uit het academisch ziekenhuis te Leiden. Daar heeft de bioloog drs. M. van der Burg een methode ontwikkeld om uit een hondepancreas een zeer hoge en zuivere oogst aan eilandjes te isoleren. Van der Burg slaagde erin uit de alvleesklier van een hond 40 procent van de vitale eilandjes te isoleren, door een speciale bewerking kon hij deze celklompjes voor 90 procent absoluut zuiveren van overbodig en complicerend pancreasweefsel. Deze eilandjes werden ingespoten in de milt van dezelfde hond en produceren daar voldoende insuline. Dit eerste experiment is in Leiden intussen met meerdere honden met hetzelfde succes herhaald. Maar er zijn nog grote problemen op te lossen en bepaald niet het geringste daarvan is dat van de afstoting. Bij de Leidse experimenten werd gebruik gemaakt van eigen weefsel van de hond. De grote vraag blijft hoe het immuunsysteem van de mens reageert als er eilandjes van een donor worden ingespoten.

Notes

1) Transplantatie. “Het Parool”. Amsterdam, 06-01-1990. Retrieved in Delpher on 20-10-2025, https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ABCDDD:010834140:mpeg21:p017

2) Islet Transplantation Breakthrough in Leiden University Hospital • 20240830 • Michel van der Burg • michelvanderburg•com • URL https://michelvanderburg.com/2024/08/30/islet-transplantation-breakthrough-in-leiden-university-hospital-20240830/

Citation info : Islet Transplantation LUMC News Surprise • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20251020 • URL michelvanderburg.com/2025/10/20/

Islet Transplantation LUMC News Surprise • @1MEMO 20251020

Diabetic (dutch ‘Suikerzieke) … Parool, 6 Jan 1990 • @1MEMO 20251020

The articles reports (my translation from dutch*) :

Transplantation

*NL (dutch) quote :

Transplantatie

Notes

1) Transplantatie. “Het Parool”. Amsterdam, 06-01-1990. Retrieved in Delpher on 20-10-2025, https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ABCDDD:010834140:mpeg21:p017

Citation info : Islet Transplantation LUMC News Surprise • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20251020 • URL michelvanderburg.com/2025/10/20/