Objective:To investigate whether pancreatic ductal presservation with trypsin inhibitor and University of Wisconsin solution(UW solution) would improve islet yield from rat pancreases preserved for 6 and 24 h. Methods:Islets were isolated from Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats. Pancreases were classified into five groups:fresh without pancreatic ductal preservation and preserving in University of Wisconsin(group 1,n = 8);preserved for 6 h in UW solution without and with pancreatic ductal preservation(group 2,n = 8 and group 3,n = 8);preserved for 24 h in UW solution without and with pancreatic ductal preservation(group 4,n = 8 and group 5,n = 8). Dithizon(DTZ) staining was used to identify islet yield;trypan blue uptake was used to assess the viability of islets. Results:Islet yields per pancreas in groups 1 to 5 were 1 820 ± 639,585 ± 151,1 496 ± 676,567 ± 182,and 1 442 ± 857(islet equivalent ± SD),respectively. The viability of islets in groups 1 to 5 were(93.8 ± 4.9)%,(82.1 ± 5.6)%,(89.6 ± 4.9)%,(77.9 ± 5.0)% and(86.7 ± 7.1)%,respectively. In all experiments,the differences were significant between the groups with/without pancreatic ductal preservation(P < 0.05,group 2 vs. group 3 and group 4 vs. group 5). Conclusion:Pancreatic ductal preservation with trypsin inhibitor and UW solution improved islet yield after 6 and 24 h of preservation.