Effect factors of liver enzymes elevation afterintraportal islet transplantation

Objective To investigate the effect factors of liver enzymes elevation by monitoring the liver function changes before and after intraportal islet transplantation. Methods 16 diabetic patients who received intraportal islet transplantation in our hospital were analyzed. The levels of aspartic aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT)and total bilirubin (TBil)were monitored after islet transplantation. Results Among those 16 diabetic patients who received intraportal islet transplantation, 11 patients showed an increased AST and 8 patients showed an increased ALT, among which a 2.5-fold increase in AST was observed in 4 patients and over 1.5-fold elevation of ALT was observed in 3 patients. The level of TBil were in the normal range before and after transplantation in all patients. Transplanted tissue volume of islet was the main factor for significantly increased AST (P<0.05) in this study. It is also shown that the change in portal pressure is related to the AST elevation after islet transplantation. Conclusions The amount of transplanted islet tissue volume is related to the liver enzymes elevation after intraportal islet transplantation. Therefore, the improvement of the purity of islet to reduce the amount of transplanted tissue could be benefit to prevent the liver injury after islet transplantation. Meanwhile, the purified islets should be injected as slowly as possible to maintain a stable portal pressure. Key words: Islet transplantation; Diabetes mellitus; Transaminase