Pancreatic islets

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"Islets of Langerhans" redirects here. Not to be confused with Langerhans cell.
Pancreatic islets
Pancreatic islets are groups of cells found within the pancreas that release hormones
A pancreatic islet from a mouse in a typical position, close to a blood vessel; insulin in red, nuclei in blue.
Details
Part ofPancreas
SystemEndocrine
Identifiers
Latininsulae pancreaticae
MeSHD007515
TA98A05.9.01.019
TA23128
FMA16016
Anatomical terms of microanatomy

The pancreatic islets or islets of Langerhans are the regions of the

endocrine (hormone-producing) cells, discovered in 1869 by German pathological anatomist Paul Langerhans.[1] The pancreatic islets constitute 1–2% of the pancreas volume and receive 10–15% of its blood flow.[2][3] The pancreatic islets are arranged in density routes throughout the human pancreas, and are important in the metabolism of glucose.[4]

Structure

There are about 1 million islets distributed throughout the pancreas of a healthy adult human. While islets vary in size, the average diameter is about 0.2 mm.[5]:928 Each islet is separated from the surrounding pancreatic tissue by a thin, fibrous, connective tissue capsule which is continuous with the fibrous connective tissue that is interwoven throughout the rest of the pancreas.[5]:928

Microanatomy

Hormones produced in the pancreatic islets are secreted directly into the blood flow by (at least) five types of cells. In rat islets, endocrine cell types are distributed as follows:[6]

It has been recognized that the cytoarchitecture of pancreatic islets differs between species.[7][8][9] In particular, while rodent islets are characterized by a predominant proportion of insulin-producing beta cells in the core of the cluster and by scarce alpha, delta and PP cells in the periphery, human islets display alpha and beta cells in close relationship with each other throughout the cluster.[7][9]

The proportion of beta cells in islets varies depending on the species, in humans it is about 40–50%. In addition to endocrine cells, there are stromal cells (fibroblasts), vascular cells (endothelial cells, pericytes), immune cells (granulocytes, lymphocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells,) and neural cells.[10]

A large amount of blood flows through the islets, 5–6 mL/min per 1 g of islet. It is up to 15 times more than in exocrine tissue of the pancreas.[10]

Islets can influence each other through

autocrine communication, and beta cells are coupled electrically to six to seven other beta cells, but not to other cell types.[11]

  • A pancreatic islet, stained.
    A pancreatic islet, stained.
  • A pancreatic islet, showing alpha cells
    A pancreatic islet, showing alpha cells
  • A pancreatic islet, showing beta cells.
    A pancreatic islet, showing beta cells.

Function

The

paracrine feedback system of the pancreatic islets has the following structure:[12]

A large number of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) regulate the secretion of insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin from pancreatic islets,[14] and some of these GPCRs are the targets of drugs used to treat type-2 diabetes (ref GLP-1 receptor agonists, DPPIV inhibitors).

  • Mouse islet immunostained for pancreatic polypeptide
    Mouse islet immunostained for pancreatic polypeptide
  • Mouse islet immunostained for insulin
    Mouse islet immunostained for insulin
  • Mouse islet immunostained for glucagon
    Mouse islet immunostained for glucagon

Electrical activity

Electrical activity of pancreatic islets has been studied using patch clamp techniques. It has turned out that the behavior of cells in intact islets differs significantly from the behavior of dispersed cells.[15]

Clinical significance

Diabetes

The beta cells of the pancreatic islets secrete insulin, and so play a significant role in diabetes. It is thought that they are destroyed by immune assaults.

Because the beta cells in the pancreatic islets are selectively destroyed by an autoimmune process in

unstable type 1 diabetes.[17]
Alternatively, daily insulin injections are an effective treatment for type 1 diabetes patients who are not candidates for islet transplantation.

People with high body mass index (BMI) are unsuitable pancreatic donors due to greater technical complications during transplantation. However, it is possible to isolate a larger number of islets because of their larger pancreas, and therefore they are more suitable donors of islets.[19]

Islet transplantation only involves the transfer of tissue consisting of beta cells that are necessary as a treatment of this disease. It thus represents an advantage over whole pancreas transplantation, which is more technically demanding and poses a risk of, for example, pancreatitis leading to organ loss.[19] Another advantage is that patients do not require general anesthesia.[20]

Islet transplantation for type 1 diabetes (as of 2008) requires potent immunosuppression to prevent host rejection of donor islets.[21]

The islets are transplanted into a

VEGF produced by islets and vascular endothelial cells.[10][20] However, intraportal transplantation has some other shortcomings, and so other alternative sites that would provide better microenvironment for islets implantation are being examined.[19] Islet transplant research also focuses on islet encapsulation, CNI-free (calcineurin-inhibitor) immunosuppression, biomarkers of islet damage or islet donor shortage.[22]

An alternative source of beta cells, such insulin-producing cells derived from adult stem cells or progenitor cells would contribute to overcoming the shortage of donor organs for transplantation. The field of regenerative medicine is rapidly evolving and offers great hope for the nearest future. However, type 1 diabetes is the result of the autoimmune destruction of beta cells in the pancreas. Therefore, an effective cure will require a sequential, integrated approach that combines adequate and safe immune interventions with beta cell regenerative approaches.[23] It has also been demonstrated that alpha cells can spontaneously switch fate and transdifferentiate into beta cells in both healthy and diabetic human and mouse pancreatic islets, a possible future source for beta cell regeneration.[24] In fact, it has been found that islet morphology and endocrine differentiation are directly related.[25] Endocrine progenitor cells differentiate by migrating in cohesion and forming bud-like islet precursors, or "peninsulas", in which alpha cells constitute the peninsular outer layer and beta cells form later beneath them. Cryopreservation has shown promise to improve the supply chain of pancreatic islets for better transplantation outcomes. [26]

Additional images

  • Pancreatic islets, the lighter tissue among the darker, acinar pancreatic tissue, hemalum-eosin stain.
    Pancreatic islets, the lighter tissue among the darker,
    acinar pancreatic tissue, hemalum-eosin stain
    .
  • Illustration of dog pancreas. 250x.
    Illustration of dog pancreas. 250x.
  • Structural differences between rat islets (top) and humans islets (bottom) as well as the ventral part (left) and the dorsal part (right) of the pancreas. Different cell types are colour-coded. Rodent islets, unlike the human ones, show the characteristic insulin core.
    Structural differences between
    humans islets (bottom) as well as the ventral part (left) and the dorsal part (right) of the pancreas. Different cell types are colour-coded. Rodent islets, unlike the human ones, show the characteristic insulin
    core.

Research

pancreatic β-cells function, proliferation, and survival, as well as insulin production, secretion, and resistance.[27][28][29][30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Langerhans P (1869). "Beitrage zur mikroscopischen anatomie der bauchspeichel druse". Inaugural-dissertation. Berlin: Gustav Lange.
  2. ISBN 978-0-07-160568-7
    .
  3. ^ Functional Anatomy of the Endocrine Pancreas
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  5. ^
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  7. ^
    PMID 15923354
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    PMID 16461897
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  10. ^
    PMID 27124642
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  11. PMID 21372635
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  12. ISBN 978-0-683-30603-3
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  13. S2CID 234135648
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  15. PMID 2015391
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  16. PMID 18081223
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  17. ^
    PMID 17981623
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  19. ^
    PMID 26824893
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  20. ^
    PMID 29394145
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  22. S2CID 37483032
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  24. PMID 28380380
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  25. PMID 30661759
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  26. ^ Zhan, L., Rao, J.S., Sethia, N. et al. Pancreatic islet cryopreservation by vitrification achieves high viability, function, recovery and clinical scalability for transplantation. Nat Med (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01718-1
  27. PMID 18092149
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  28. S2CID 36905885
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External links
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