A call for improved reporting of human islet characteristics in research articles

The increased availability of isolated human islets for diabetes research and the implementation of islet distribution programs in several countries worldwide have been driving forces behind the rapidly expanding number of scientific reports on studies using human islets. In Diabetologia , Hart and Powers (1) not only review the progress made in human islet research, made possible through their greater availability, but also identify the challenges associated with their use. These include the wide functional heterogeneity observed between islet preparations and the highly variable (and often inadequate) reporting of human islet characteristics in the scientific literature. Many factors contribute to the functional heterogeneity observed between human islet preparations. These include differences in donor characteristics (age, sex, ethnic background, health status prior to death, and cause of death); differences in pancreas procurement (isolation center, islet handling, estimated purity, and viability); warm and cold ischemia times; and tissue culture (1). All of these factors influence, to varying degrees, the morphology and function of the islets as investigated in the laboratory (2–5). For example, out of the 13 islet preparations from donors without diabetes for which islet cell composition is provided in the Human Pancreas Analysis Program PancDB database of the Human Islet Research Network …