Local release of rapamycin by microparticles delays islet rejection within the anterior chamber of the eye
2019
The anterior chamber of the eye (ACE) has emerged as a promising clinical
islettransplantation site because of its multiple advantages over the conventional intra-hepatic portal site. This includes reduced surgical invasiveness and increased
isletgraft survival rate. It also allows for enhanced accessibility and monitoring of the
islets. Although the ACE is initially an immuno-privileged site, this privilege is disrupted once the
isletgrafts are re-vascularized. Given that the ACE is a
confined space, achieving graft
immune tolerancethrough local
immunosuppressive drugdelivery is therefore feasible. Here, we show that
isletrejection in the ACE of mice can be significantly suppressed through local delivery of rapamycin by carefully designed sustained-release
microparticles. In this 30-day study, allogeneic
isletgrafts with blank
microparticleswere completely rejected 18 days post-transplantation into mice. Importantly, allogeneic
isletgrafts co-injected with rapamycin releasing
microparticlesinto a different eye of the same recipient were preserved much longer, with some grafts surviving for more than 30 days. Hence,
isletallograft survival was enhanced by a localized and prolonged delivery of an
immunosuppressive drug. We envisage that this procedure will relieve diabetic transplant recipients from harsh systemic immune suppression, while achieving improved glycemic control and reduced insulin dependence.
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