Use of Polyethyleneglycol for Porcine Islet Cryopreservation

The aim of this work was to determine whether polyethylene glycol 20000 Da (PEG) could be used as protective agent in porcine islet cryopreservation. Cryopreservation was performed on 1-wk cultured pig islets and consisted in an overnight storage in liquid nitrogen. In a first set of experiments, we compared the in vitro function of PEG-cryopreserved islets to that of porcine islets cryopreserved under the standard procedure using dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), by incubating the islets over 45 min in Krebs buffer containing either 2.8 or 10 mmol/L glucose. Insulin secretion of both types of islets reached a maximum at day 10 postthawing and had stimulation indices above 2 up to 3 wk after thawing. PEG-cryopreserved islets secreted more insulin than DMSO-treated islets and showed glucose-dependency insulin secretion in a 0-16.6 mmol/L glucose range. We also established that PEG-cryopreserved islets were as functional in vitro as nonfrozen tissue and that they could reverse experimental diabetes of the mouse for longer periods of time than noncryopreserved islets (p < 0.005 3 wk after transplantation) when implanted in the peritoneal cavity, being immunoprotected in a semipermeable hollow fiber. PEG can, therefore, be considered as a suitable cryoprotective compound for porcine islet storage.