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World J Transplant. Sep 24, 2014; 4(3): 183-187
Published online Sep 24, 2014. doi: 10.5500/wjt.v4.i3.183
Autoimmune diabetes recurrence should be routinely monitored after pancreas transplantation
La Salete Martins
La Salete Martins, Department of Nephrology, Renal and Pancreatic Transplant Units, Centro Hospitalar do Porto, Hospital de Santo António, 4099-001 Porto, Portugal
Author contributions: Martins LS was the sole author who conceived, drafted and approved the final version of the article to be published.
Correspondence to: La Salete Martins, MD, Department of Nephrology, Renal and Pancreatic Transplant Units, Centro Hospitalar do Porto, Hospital de Santo António, Lg Prof Abel Salazar, 4099-001 Porto, Portugal. lasalet@gmail.com
Telephone: +351-22-2077534 Fax: +351-22-2033189
Received: April 22, 2014
Revised: May 21, 2014
Accepted: July 17, 2014
Published online: September 24, 2014
Core Tip

Core tip: Recurrence of pancreatic autoantibodies after kidney-pancreas transplantation is a disturbing finding. It was estimated that half of the immunological losses of pancreas grafts may be due to autoimmunity. There is a rising investigational effort concerning this issue. At our unit, we have designed a protocol of prospective monitoring of pancreatic autoantibodies after transplantation. In our experience, patients with positive pancreatic autoantibodies, compared to negative patients, were more likely to present higher HbA1c and lower C-peptide levels. A review of the most important publications in this field, and about the interest of pancreatic autoantibodies monitoring after transplantation, was made.