title: Immunohistochemical analysis of the endocrine cells in the pancreatic islets of cattle.
abstract: The distribution of endocrine cells and the areas of islets in the bovine pancreas were investigated by immunohistochemical methods. The islets in the A-region, which consisted of the left lobe, the ventral portion of the body, and the ventral and distal portions of the right lobe, contained a central core of insulin-containing (B-) cells surrounded by glucagon containing (A-) cells, a few somatostatin-containing (D-) cells and sporadic pancreatic polypeptide-containing (PP-) cells. The islets in the B-region, which consisted of the uncinate process, and the dorsal and proximal portions of the body and the right lobe, contained a central mass of B-cells, and peripheral cells which were predominantly PP-cells with a few D-cells but no A-cells. The areas of islets in the B-region were small as compared with those in the A-region. From these findings it is suggested that A- and PP-cells have a complementary relationship to one another. In view of this hypothesis, two types of islet, A-cell-rich and PP-cell-rich islets, were identified. The A-region contained A-cell-rich islets derived from the dorsal pancreatic primordium, while the B-region contained PP-cell-rich islets that originated from the ventral primordium. In the bovine pancreas, the areas containing PP-cell-rich islets are greater than those in previously examined species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Anatomy, School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hiratsuka
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takehana
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwasa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hiraga
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002452:Cell Count; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology*