In the present studies we sought to address the following questions: do chronically transplanted intrahepatic islets (IHI-Tx) secrete insulin in a coordinate pulsatile manner, and, if so, is reestablishment of this coordinate pulsatility a function of time after transplantation? We studied isolated perfused livers at 10 mM glucose from 27 rats rendered diabetic with streptozotocin and then transplanted with -2 x 103 islets, 2 (n = 5), 7 (n = 5), 30 (n = 5), and 200 (n = 12) d after transplantation. (-200 d) 111-Tx secrete insulin in a coordinate pulsatile manner and that establishment of coordinate pulsatile insulin secretion by IHI-Tx is accompanied by increased total insulin secretion and is associated with islet reinnervation. (J. Clin. Invest. 1994. 94: 219-227.)

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