Improvement of Insulin Diffusion by Protein Coating of Membranes for Use in a Bioartificial Pancreas

Encapsulation of islets of Langerhans in artificial membranes may solve immunological problems of islet allo- and xenotransplantation in diabetes mellitus. With this respect insulin diffusion characteristics of membranes have to be examined in vitro. In this study, the impact of a preincubation of membranes for insulin diffusibility was evaluated. Preincubation in 10 % fetal calf serum (but not protein-free medium) particular of Amicon XM 50 hollow fibers resulted in a long term improvement of insulin diffusibility in vitro.