Mitotic activity and DNA synthesis of rat islet cells following partial pancreatectomy.
The regenerative potential of the adult rat pancreas following a 50% pancreatectomy was investigated. Blood glucose values and body weight were unchanged by the procedure. The mitotic index (MI) of alpha, beta, and exocrine cells was examined in formalin-fixed sections of the pancreas stained for hormones and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrDU) after treating the animals with 2.5 mg/kg colchicine and/or 50 mg/kg BrDU prior to sacrifice. The MI was unchanged within the control group. For pancreatectomized versus control animals, in beta cells after 5 days the MI was 0.84% versus 0.41% (p less than 0.05), while 7 days postoperatively it was 1.04% versus 0.57% (p less than 0.01); in alpha cells, the MI was 0.32% versus 0.17% (p less than 0.05) at 5 days and 0.47% versus 0.24% (p less than 0.05) at 7 days. The MI of exocrine cells rose transiently on day 3 postoperatively to 0.74% in the pancreatectomized group but remained low at 0.15% (p less than 0.01) in the control group. The mean ratio of BrDU + ve beta cells was 1.19% in the pancreatectomy group and 0.45% in the control group on day 5 postoperatively (p = 0.01). A highly significant (r = 0.97; p less than 0.001) correlation existed between BrDU + ve and mitotic cells. There was no difference between the two groups in the area occupied by insulin-positive cells in pancreatic sections, nor in the number of beta cells per islet.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Fong
I
I
Ray Williams Institute of Paediatric Endocrinology, Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, Sydney, Australia.
Hulinsky
I
I
Fortuna
R
R
Silink
M
M
D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine / Q000378:metabolism; D003078:Colchicine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004247:DNA / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008677:Metaphase / Q000502:physiology; D008938:Mitosis; D008940:Mitotic Index / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010180:Pancreatectomy; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D001786:Blood Glucose; D004247:DNA; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine; D003078:Colchicine