title: Islet nerves in focus--defining their neurobiological and clinical role.
abstract: Although it is well established that the pancreatic islets are innervated by autonomic nerves, the detailed islet innervation pattern is still unclear. In this issue of Diabetologia (DOI:                    10.1007/s00125-012-2699-6                                    ) novel details of the islet neuroanatomy and its plasticity in experimental diabetes are described. By using a 3-dimensional (3-D) imaging technique, it has been shown that, in islets from normal mice, sympathetic nerves mainly form a neurovascular complex in addition to innervating peripherally located islet alpha cells. There are also pronounced changes in islet neuroanatomy in experimental diabetes. These findings suggest novel neural-islet regulatory mechanisms as well as neural involvement in the development of diabetes, and therefore advance both basic and clinical knowledge of islet neurobiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. Bo.Ahren@med.lu.se
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ahrén
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000294:innervation* / Q000473:pathology*; D010179:Pancreas / Q000473:pathology*; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000473:pathology*