Oxford's contributions to Islet Transplantation

The University of Oxford has been a leader in the field of islet transplantation for over 25 years. Listed below are key milestones in islet transplantation resulting from the work of local researchers:

1978    First use of renal sub capsular site for islet transplantation

1979    First description of protection of islet allograft by prior organ grant

1983-8 First description of intraductal collagenase digestion technique now in common use for rat, mouse and primate             islets

1984    First description of mass islet isolation from human pancreas using intraductal collagenase

1986    First description of adverse effect of hyperglycaemia on transplanted islets 

1986    First description of unusual reluctance of human beta cells to express MHC Class II antigens in response to                   cytokines

1987    First description of blood clot techniques for renal sub capsular islet transplantation

1988    First fully documented metabolic studies of successful islet autografts in primates

1989    First description of mixed islet grafts to investigate specificity of islet rejection

1993    First documented ability of high dose islet transplants to function lifelong (in rodent species)

1994-8 First description of rapid destruction of freshly isolated islet xenografts in primate recipients