Home
» University of Virginia Health System
University of Virginia Health System
The University of Virginia Health System is a national leader in the fight against diabetes. In fact, UVa is one of the only institutions in the United States that has cured diabetes in some patients by means of full-organ pancreas transplantation and islet cell transplantation.
A national leader in pancreas transplants, UVa's Center for Cellular Transplantation is curing people with type 1 diabetes by providing them with a healthy, insulin-producing gland. The center is also among a small number of facilities in this country that has successfully performed pancreatic islet cell transplants, which are still considered experimental.
In 2002, UVa created the Center for Cellular Transplantation and Therapeutics and established the first human islet cell transplant program in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The center has performed two islet cell transplants and can now isolate insulin-producing tissue from human pancreata for transplantation into diabetic patients.
Using state-of-the-art, cellular transplant technology, UVa doctors extract islet (insulin-producing) cells from a pancreas, purify them, and inject them into the patient's liver where they can function. If conditions remain suitable, these islets begin to produce insulin, reducing the need for insulin injections.
"We have a high-level institutional commitment to being at the forefront of transplantation for the cure of diabetes," said Center for Cellular Transplantation and Therapeutics Director Kenneth Brayman, M.D., Ph.D., in an August 2006 interview with the LINK Newsletter. "Early results show about 80 percent of people with this [islet cell] transplant will be off insulin one year after their treatments."
In addition, UVa Medical Center recently completed construction of a laboratory on the Fontaine Research Park Campus where doctors can now isolate insulin-producing tissue from human pancreata for transplantation into diabetic patients. The Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) "clean room" facility is approved by the FDA as one of a select-few sites where donor pancreas islet-cells can be isolated.
Visit the UVa Health System Transplant Program Web site for more information.
Links to Transplant and Related Organizations
The UVa Health System provides the following links to information on organ donation, islet cell transplantation, and related information.
United Network for Organ Sharing
UNOS brings together medicine, science, public policy, and technology to facilitate every organ transplant performed in the United States. UNOS assists transplant doctors, patients, and members of the public by helping to ensure that organs are procured and distributed in a fair and timely manner.
National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC)
The NDIC hosts a Web page that provides a good summary on the function of islet cells in the pancreas, the process of islet transplantation, the research context, drug regimens, and additional links.
Colaborative Islet Transplant Registry (CITR)
CITR is an organization that facilitates nationwide collaboration on the collection of data for islet cell transplantation. This collaboration, by bringing together data from many centers, helps to accumulate data required to move islet cell transplantation from experimental to normalized use (hopefully with insurance coverage).
ClinicalTrials.gov
The National Institutes of Health sponsors this Web site, providing updated information on current clinical trials. In the "Search Clinical Trials" box, type the words "islet cell transplantation" and click on "Search" to obtain a list of relevant clinical trials.
American Diabetes Association (ADA)
The ADA sponsors a Web page providing a general overview of islet cell transplantation.
International Islet Cell Registry (ISTR)
The ISTR, located at the University Medical Center of Giessen in Germany, and is responsible for data collection and computer entry on all islet auto-, allo- and xenotransplants performed throughout the world. The ISTR publishes a newsletter for participating and other interested institutions.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The FDA hosts a colorful and informative Web page on pancreas islet transplantation.
|
