ABSTRACT
This chapter primarily focuses on the use of polysaccharides in bioartificial pancreases. The pancreas is composed of two separate organ systems: the exocrine pancreas and the endocrine pancreas. A bioartificial pancreas composed of islet tissue enclosed in a semipermeable membrane has been proposed as an alternative to islet transplantation coupled with immunosuppressive therapy. There are two major types of bioartificial pancreases: extravascular and intravascular. The chapter discusses microcapsules, as devices employing polysaccharide microcapsules have been used in all of the detailed studies of the performance of bioartificial pancreases in vivo. Several properties of a microcapsule need to be optimized before it is suitable for in vivo use in a bioartificial pancreas. The limited survival of microencapsulated xenografts is in marked contrast with the near-infinite survival of the allogeneic bioartificial pancreases. Agarose has been used to microencapsulate living cells. Polysaccharides, such as alginic acid and agarose, have been most commonly used in studies of the microencapsulation of islets.
