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Impact of Islet Transplantation on Diabetes Complications and Quality of Life

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Abstract

Insulin represents a life-saving therapy for patients with type 1 diabetes but, despite appropriate treatment, it prevents only partially long-term diabetic complications, while generating fatal hypoglycemic episodes. Islet transplantation gained attention because of its safety, effectiveness, and minimal invasiveness; however it remains a procedure reserved for a selected group of patients. The introduction of the Edmonton Protocol in 2000, based on a newly designed steroid-free immunosuppressive protocol, revamped the course of islet transplantation. The main goal of islet transplantation remains insulin independence, although the effect of islet transplantation can be more comprehensively evaluated in terms of frequency of hypoglycemic episodes and impact on diabetic complications and quality of life. Islet transplantation was shown to have positive consequences on cardiovascular, renal, neurologic, and ocular diabetic complications. The proof of concept for cellular replacement therapy in diabetes has been established with islet transplantation, it only needs to be improved and rendered widely available.

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Acknowledgments

Paolo Fiorina is the recipient of a JDRF and ASN Career Development Award and of a MIUR grant: (“Staminali” RF-FSR-2008-1213704).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Transplantation Research Center, Nephrology Division, Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Enders Building EN530, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Roberto Bassi & Paolo Fiorina

  2. Università del Salento, DiSTeBA, Via per Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy

    Roberto Bassi

  3. Medicine, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy

    Paolo Fiorina

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  1. Roberto Bassi
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Correspondence to Paolo Fiorina.

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Bassi, R., Fiorina, P. Impact of Islet Transplantation on Diabetes Complications and Quality of Life. Curr Diab Rep 11, 355–363 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-011-0211-1

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