[Structure and function of pancreatic microcirculation].
To gain an insight into the relationship between structure and function in pancreatic microcirculation, observations were carried out in 9 corpse, 30 monkeys, 24 dogs, 62 Wistar rats and 24 rabbits by the use of scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy with the technique of retaining microcirculatory dynamic and tissular information in the static specimens, and/or by intravital fluorescence microscopy with FITC-labeled erythrocytes. The results showed: there were two capillary beds destined for the endocrine and exocrine parts of pancreas between the intralobular arteriole and venule; the blood of pancreatic portal circulation flowed from the endocrine to the exocrine part; each pancreatic lobule was supplied by a single centrally located intralobular artery and there was no anastomosis between the intralobular arterioles or any of their branches, so they were end arteries; the physiological blood flow was about 1.18 +/- 0.05 nl/min per capillary with stable capillary perfusion pattern; a profound decreased functional capillary density and capillary perfusion was observed in the early phase of acute pancreatitis. These results suggest that pancreatic lobule is a structured and functional basic unit of pancreatic microcirculation, insulo-acinar portal circulation represents the basic feature of the pancreatic microcirculation, and the intralobular arteriole, being an end artery, forms the anatomical basis of the pancreatic microcirculatory disturbance during acute pancreatitis.
Zhou
Z
Z
Department of Hepato-Bili-Pancreato-Surgery, First University Hospital, West China University of Medical Sciences, Chengdu 610041.
Zeng
Y
Y
Yang
P
P
Cheng
Z
Z
Zhao
J
J
Shu
Y
Y
Gao
X
X
Yan
L
L
Zhang
Z
Z
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs; D000882:Haplorhini; D006801:Humans; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D010179:Pancreas / Q000098:blood supply*; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar