“Breakthrough in research into treatment of diabetics. Discovery by doctors of Leiden University Hospital” …headlines the Dutch newspaper ‘Leidsch Dagblad’ (1).

The dutch newspaper ‘Leidsch Dagblad’ reports October 24, 1989, on a breakthrough in the treatment of diabetic patients…successful transplantation of the insulin producing ‘islets’ in dogs, after isolation of the islets ​​using the UW organ storage solution (UWS)

The first successful transplant June 13, 1989 was a big step. Generally multiple pancreases are needed for an adequate number of purified islets for one transplant. Here the dog’s pancreas was used for the isolation of islets, that were injected back in the animals’ spleen.

‘The breakthrough in the research came when Van der Burg came up with the idea of ​​using the UW organ storage solution — developed several years ago at the University of Wisconsin — for the preservation of the islets. This turned out to yield good results. The yield of pure islets could be increased using this method.’

Cicero

News based on story published Sep. 15th, 1989 by journalist Sylvia Van Leeuwen in Cicero, the biweekly publication of the Academic Hospital and Leiden Medical Faculty (2).

One more thing

We reported long-term function of the islet transplants (3,4). Failure after 3.5 years of a well-functioning islet transplant is puzzling. Nowadays, in clinical islet transplantation, failure of long-term functioning grafts in diabetic patients is still puzzling. Therefore, note (data not published before), that body weight of this autografted animal had increased to almost 150%, from 12.5 kg at the time of islet transplantation, to 18.0 kg at the time of graft failure 3.5 years later (Dec. 1992) — obviously, with an increased insulin demand that may have contributed to graft failure.

Notes

1) Doorbraak in onderzoek naar behandeling suikerpatiënten. Ontdekking door artsen Leids Academisch Ziekenhuis. (EN tr. “Breakthrough in research into treatment of diabetics. Discovery by doctors of Leiden University Hospital”) | by Gert Visser, in Leidsch Dagblad, Oct 24, 1989 | Dutch newspaper, URL https://leiden.courant.nu/issue/LD/1989-10-24/edition/0/page/15

The background in the image here (20240830_1), is the original color slide of the ‘Islets of Langerhans’ showing in the newspaper.

2) ‘Eilandjes’ getransplanteerd | by Sylvia van Leeuwen in Cicero, Sep. 15th, 1989 (ISSN 0920-2900), the biweekly publication of the Academic Hospital and Leiden Medical Faculty | 20240830_3 • michelvanderburg•com Download PDF article, file 20240830_3_CICERO

3) Function and survival of intrasplenic islet autografts in dogs. In : Pancreatic islet transplantation (doctoral thesis, 1994) by Michel van der Burg. ISBN 9789080216402. Scholarly Publications repository of Leiden University. URL https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A3486614/view

4) Van der Burg MPM, Guicherit OR, Jansen JBMJ, Frölich M, Lamers CBHW, Lemkes HHPJ, Bruijn JA, Gooszen HG. Function and survival of intrasplenic islet autografts in dogs. Diabetologia 39, 37–44 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00400411

5) Van der Burg MPM, Gooszen HG, Ploeg RJ, Guicherit OR, Scherft JP, Terpstra JL, Bruijn JA, Frölich M. Pancreatic islet isolation with UW solution: a new concept. 4th Congress of the European Society for Organ Transplantation, Barcelona (Spain) November 1–4, 1989.

6) The islet transplant news was first reported by me at an invited lecture July 8, 1989 for the Anglo Danish Dutch Diabetes Group meeting in St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, Oxford (UK) :
Van der Burg MPM, Gooszen HG, Scherft JP, Terpstra JL, Frölich M, Guicherit OR, Lemkes HHPJ, Bruijn JA. The isolation of canine pancreatic islets for transplantation. Seventh Annual Meeting Anglo Danish Dutch Diabetes Group, Oxford (UK) July 5–9, 1989.

7) Leiden Islet Laboratory History • 20240803 | Michel van der Burg | michelvanderburg•com

Citation info : Islet Transplantation Breakthrough in Leiden University Hospital • 20240830 • Michel van der Burg • michelvanderburg•com