Preliminary experience with allotransplantation of pancreatic fragments to the spleen of totally pancreatectomized dogs

Transplantation of dispersed pancreatic allogeneic tissue to the spleen of 24 totally pancreatectomized immunosuppressed dogs was followed by technical failure in 2, early rejection of the tissue in 14, and prolonged function without evidence of rejection in 8 dogs. The immunosuppressive regimen itself had an adverse effect on carbohydrate metabolism in recipient dogs, but immunologic destruction of the transplanted tissue was primarily responsible for the failure. However, the fact that pancreatic tissue was not rejected in more than one-third of the technically successful intrasplenic allotransplants shows that the spleen can be an acceptable site for allotransplantation and that it should not be excluded from use for immunologic reasons alone.