Rapid and Long‐Term Glycemic Regulation with a Balanced Charged Immune‐Evasive Hydrogel in T1DM Mice

Transplantation of encapsulated islets is a promising treatment for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. However, its long-term clinical therapeutic efficacy is still hindered by serious immune rejection from the host immunological responses to the implanted materials, known as foreign body reaction (FBR). In this work, an anti-biofouling balanced charged hydrogel is reported that can serve as an excellent immunoprotective material for islet transplantation therapy. It is found that the encapsulated islets can maintain their glucose-responsive and insulin-producing functions. Additionally, the hydrogel can effectively evade in vivo FBR after intraperitoneal implantation in an immunocompetent streptozotocin-induced diabetic mouse model. As a result, 100% of the mice rapidly recover to normoglycemia within 2 d and stably maintain for at least 150 d without any immunosuppression treatment. These findings shed light on the “insulin independence and immunoisolation” encapsulation strategy, which can overcome the barrier of islet transplantation and holds the potential to improve current clinical therapeutic efficacy.