title: A 3D map of the islet routes throughout the healthy human pancreas.
abstract: Islets of Langerhans are fundamental in understanding diabetes. A healthy human pancreas from a donor has been used to asses various islet parameters and their three-dimensional distribution. Here we show that islets are spread gradually from the head up to the tail section of the pancreas in the form of contracted or dilated islet routes. We also report a particular anatomical structure, namely the cluster of islets. Our observations revealed a total of 11 islet clusters which comprise of small islets that surround large blood vessels. Additional observations in the peripancreatic adipose tissue have shown lymphoid-like nodes and blood vessels captured in a local inflammatory process. Our observations are based on regional slice maps of the pancreas, comprising of 5,423 islets. We also devised an index of sphericity which briefly indicates various islet shapes that are dominant throughout the pancreas.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases "N.C. Paulescu", Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Constantin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ionescu-Tirgoviste
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases "N.C. Paulescu", Bucharest, Romania.|National Institute of Pathology "Victor Babes", Romania.|Faculty of Engineering in Foreign Languages, Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania.|Institute of Genetics, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Gagniuc
authors.affiliation: University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Elvira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gubceac
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases "N.C. Paulescu", Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Liliana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mardare
authors.affiliation: Clinical Institute of "Fundeni", Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Irinel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Popescu
authors.affiliation: Clinical Institute of "Fundeni", Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dima
authors.affiliation: University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Manuella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Militaru
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000098:blood supply / Q000166:cytology*; D008297:Male; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D010179:Pancreas / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology*