title: Distribution pattern of CART-containing neurons and cells in the human pancreas.
abstract: Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) has been shown to play a critical role in appetite suppression, cell survival, thermoregulation, glucose sensing, stimulation of hormone secretion, as well as for the regulatory function of the islets of Langerhans. Although the principal site of CART synthesis has already been reported, our knowledge of the subject is mainly based on and limited to research conducted on animals owing to difficulties in obtaining human samples. Therefore, the primary goal of the reported study was an attempt to identify and localize CART in healthy human pancreas. Nineteen deceased subjects (donors of organs) with normal pancreas and alimentary tract were used in the study. After determination of brain death and confirmation of death by the relevant doctors committee, pancreas samples, about 1cm long, were collected from each corpse (the same part of the pancreas) after the organs were harvested for transplantation. Paraffin sections were made and stained with hematoxylin and eosin and then subjected to CART immunohistochemistry. In the normal pancreas of human adults, CART is mainly present in both nerve fibers and in nerve cell bodies in pancreatic ganglia. In addition to pancreatic neurons, immunoreactivity to CART was also seen in islet endocrine cells. This is the first report on the presence of CART-IR structures in the normal human pancreas. CART should be now added to the numerous regulatory peptides that are involved in the complex regulation of pancreatic endocrine and exocrine processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Cytophysiology, Medical University of Bialystok, Kilińskiego 1 str., 15-089 Białystok, Poland. kasacka@umb.edu.pl
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kasacka
authors.forename: Izabela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Janiuk
authors.forename: Alicja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lewandowska
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bekisz
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lebkowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005725:Ganglia, Autonomic / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D010179:Pancreas / Q000166:cytology / Q000294:innervation / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult; D000098882:Cocaine- and Amphetamine-Regulated Transcript Protein
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D000098882:Cocaine- and Amphetamine-Regulated Transcript Protein