OctaAlpha1

Patients meeting the study entry criteria will receive 1-3 infusion(s) of in vitro cultured islets. Patients will receive three times a week AAT infusions in the peri-transplant period for three weeks.

Patients with severe chronic pancreatitis may be candidates to have their pancreas removed and their islets transplanted into the liver to reduce the risk of diabetes mellitus, a procedure called total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplant (TPIAT). However, over half of patients who have a TPIAT will need to remain on some supplemental insulin life-long after the procedure. We will study therapies that may reduce damage to transplanted islets, and thereby improve long-term outcomes.
Two promising anti-inflammatory therapies are available to protect islets from damage at the time of transplant: (1) the Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)-alpha inhibitor etanercept and (2) the serine protease inhibitor alpha-1 antitrypsin. Both agents are commercially available for clinical trials. Proof-of-principle for etanercept has been demonstrated in type 1 diabetic allotransplant recipients, in whom a 10 day course of etanercept early post-transplant significantly improved long-term insulin independence, due to better survival of the transplanted beta cell mass in the engraftment period. Alpha-1 antitrypsin (A1AT) reduces inflammatory cytokines, protects against cytokine-induced beta cell apoptosis, and prolongs islet graft survival in mice and intraportal IAT non-human primates.
This initial 3-arm drug-treatment clinical trial will investigate the use of Etanercept and A1AT to improve IAT function at 90 days and 1 and 2 years post-TPIAT compared to standard care. Forty-five patients undergoing TPIAT will be randomized 1:1:1 to receive either: 1) etanercept (50 mg on day 0; 25 mg on days 3, 7, 10, 14, and 21), 2) alpha-1 antitrypsin (90 mg/kg IV days -1, +3, 7, 14, 21, 28) or 3) standard care. Patients will have mechanistic assessments drawn in the early post-operative period including inflammatory cytokines and chemokines and measures of beta cell loss. Metabolic testing will occur at 90, 365, and 730 days post-TPIAT, including mixed meal tolerance testing, IV glucose tolerance testing, and glucose-potentiated arginine-induced insulin secretion (GPAIS).