The cover shows a micrograph of a baboon eye during transplantation of pancreatic islets into the anterior chamber of the eye. Air bubbles are placed over the pupil to prevent the islets from obstructing the visual path and from reaching behind the iris. The inset shows a histological section of the iris containing islets stained for insulin (red) and glucagon (cyan). Islet transplantation into the intrahepatic portal system is currently used as a beta cell replacement therapy for patients with unstable type 1 diabetes, but investigators are searching for alternative transplantation sites. In the present issue of Diabetologia (54: 1121–1126) Perez et al. report that intraocular islet grafts secrete insulin and decrease exogenous insulin requirements in the baboon model of diabetes. No major adverse effects on eye structure were observed after transplantation.
Cover credit: DESIGNED BY M. H. ABDULREDA AND P. O. BERGGREN USING IMAGES CONTRIBUTED BY V. L. PEREZ AND R. RODRIGUEZ-DIAZ
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