Purification of Islets of Langerhans from Porcine Pancreas

Flotation through a slightly hyperosmotic discontinuous gradient iodixanol achieves a much higher recovery of islets of an improved viability than the customary method using sedimentation on to a diatrizoate/polysaccharide barrier. Flotation techniques achieve an enhanced separation of the islets from any residual digestive enzymes and from acinar cells. The method has been extended to human pancreas.