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Human islets of Langerhans were transplanted to the subcapsular space of the kidneys of nude mice which were either normoglycaemic or made diabetic with alloxan. After 2 weeks, the transplants were processed for light and electron microscopical analyses. In all transplants, islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP)-positive cells were found with highest frequency in normoglycaemic animals. IAPP-positive amyloid was seen in 16 out of 22 transplants (73%), either by polarisation microscopy after Congo red staining or by immune electron microscopy. At variance with previous findings of amyloid deposits exclusively in the extracellular space of islets of non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients, the grafted islets contained intracellular amyloid deposits as well. There was no clear difference in occurrence of amyloid between diabetic and non-diabetic animals. The present study indicates that human islets transplanted into nude mice very soon present IAPP-positive amyloid deposits. This technique may provide a valuable model for studies of the pathogenesis of islet amyloid and its impact on islet cell function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane encapsulation or ultraviolet-B irradiation, with or without mild immunosuppressive treatment, was applied in order to prolong the survival of xenogeneic porcine foetal pancreatic grafts. Non-diabetic C57BL/6 mice were transplanted with porcine islet-like cell clusters, either membrane-encapsulated in the epididymal fat pad, or non-encapsulated under the kidney capsule. The animals were treated with daily subcutaneous injections of either cyclosporin A (12.5 mg/kg b.wt.), 15-deoxyspergualin (5.0 mg/kg b.wt.), ethyl (E)-6-(1, 3-dihydro-4-hydroxy-6-methoxy-7-methyl-3-oxo-5-isobenzofuranyl)-4-methyl-4-hexenoate. (RS-61443) (70 mg/kg b.wt.) or with cyclophosphamide (70 mg/kg b.wt.) every second day. A fulminant mononuclear cell infiltration was observed 14 days after transplantation both around the subcapsular graft and outside the membranes in the saline treated control group. The membrane had pores of 0.45 μm and was designed to allow macromolecule transport but prevents cells from crossing. Therefore, xenoantigens can escape from the membrane implants and cause an immune reaction. A significantly weaker mononuclear cell infiltration was, however, seen when the membrane barrier was combined with 15-deoxyspergualin, cyclophosphamide or RS-61443 treatment but the morphology of the encapsulated ICC was not improved. The best subcapsular, non-encapsulated graft survival was obtained in animals treated with 15-deoxyspergualin or cyclophosphamide and the graft insulin content measurements confirmed the morphological data. There was no prolongation of islet-like cell cluster graft survival under the kidney capsule after ultraviolet-B irradiation alone (650 J/m2 for 90 sec), and no synergistic effect was observed when ultraviolet-B irradiation was combined with 15-deoxyspergualin therapy (2.0 mg/kg b.wt.). It is concluded that neither membrane encapsulation with membrane that allow xenoantigen escape from the implants nor ultraviolet-B irradiation are able to prolong discordant xenograft survival in mice. However, such an effect may be obtained by repeated administration of 15-deoxyspergualin or cyclophosphamide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-B cell auto-immunity may play a role in the pathogenesis of diabetes in mice resulting from multiple subdiabetogenic doses of the pancreatic B cell toxin, streptozotocin. In the present study we have investigated the cytotoxic anti-B cell response in these mice. A major role for B lymphocytes, macrophages, or their products in the cytotoxic response originally detected in vitro was eliminated by passing splenocytes from the mice treated with multiple subdiabetogenic doses of streptozotocin over a nylon wool column. The removal of the adherent cells enhanced the cytotoxicity against a rat insulinoma cell line in vitro by that expected due to enrichment of T-lymphocytes by approximately twofold. The induction of diabetes after multiple subdiabetogenic doses of streptozotocin is strain dependent. Mice of five strains were immunized with rat insulinoma cells, but only splenocytes from the two strains susceptible to multiple subdiabetogenic doses of streptozotocin demonstrated a significant cytotoxic response against the rat insulinoma cells in vitro. Mice pre-immunized with either the rat insulinoma cells or with syngeneic islets labelled in vitro with the hapten trinitrophenol developed hyperglycaemia more rapidly than control mice after multiple subdiabetogenic doses of streptozotocin. In the latter experiment the control mice immunized with complete Freund's adjuvant alone also became hyperglycaemic after a modified multiple subdiabetogenic dose of streptozotocin that did not cause diabetes in non-immunized mice. In mice pre-treated with either adjuvant or cyclophosphamide and then given a modified multiple subdiabetogenic dose of streptozotocin (35 mg/kg × 5 rather than 40 mg/ kg) the degree of hyperglycaemia was reduced and there was no protective effect of cyclophosphamide. However, the mice pre-treated with adjuvant again developed hyperglycaemia more rapidly and to a much higher level than did the mice given multiple subdiabetogenic doses of streptozotocin only. These additional data further support the hypothesis that B-cell destruction after multiple subdiabetogenic doses of streptozotocin results from triggering of an immune response against these insulin-producing cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the light of recent attempts to treat newly-diagnosed Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients with cyclosporin A, and reports suggesting an impaired glucose tolerance following immunosuppresion therapy with cyclosporin A, we investigated the long-term effects of cyclosporin A on islet β-cell morphology and function in vitro. Collagenase-isolated mouse pancreatic islets were cultured free-floating for 7 days in medium RPMI 1640 + 10% calf serum in the presence of cyclosporin A (0.1 or 1.0 mg/l). Islets cultured in the presence of the higher cyclosporin A concentration had impaired islet proinsulin biosynthesis and insulin release when challenged with high glucose concentration. Moreover, the insulin content of the drug-exposed islets was decreased and so was the rate of DNA synthesis. The glucose oxidation and respiratory rates, however, remained unaffected, suggesting that the impaired insulin production was not a result of defective oxidative metabolism. There were no changes in the ultrastructure or phospholipid biosynthesis of the islets after the drug treatment. These data indicate that cyclosporin A affects islets in culture, the clinical implications of which are so far difficult to assess. The inhibitory effect of cyclosporin A on islet cell DNA synthesis must nevertheless be considered in attempts to ameliorate Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes, and when grafting islet cells in numbers primarily insufficient to cure the recipient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on the pancreatic B cell has so far focussed on the regulation and molecular biology of insulin biosynthesis and release. The present review draws attention to some additional areas of islet research which have become accessible to investigation by recent methodological progress and which may advance our understanding of the role of the B cell in diabetes. There is now evidence to suggest that B cells arise from a pool of undifferentiated precursor cells in the fetal and newborn pancreas. These cells may contribute to islet growth and, if inappropriately stimulated, also to early islet hyperplasia. In the postnatal state, B-cell function is finely tuned by a complex set of incoming signals, one of which is the nutrient supply provided by the blood. Recent studies indicate that a disproportionately high fraction of pancreatic blood is diverted to the islets and that the islet blood flow is increased by glucose. An acute stimulus to insulin release may thus be accompanied by a process which enhances the distribution of the hormone to the target cells. Long-term adjustments of B-cell function are made by changes in B-cell number and total mass. Adaptive growth responses to an increased insulin demand occur in a number of hereditary diabetic syndromes in animals, but in some of these there is an inherited restriction on the capacity for B-cell proliferation leading to further deterioration of the glucose tolerance. Some evidence suggests that a similar mechanism may operate also in human non-insulin-dependent diabetes. A critical appraisal of this hypothesis requires, however, that human B cells should be tested for their growth characteristics. Studies of B-cell proliferation in experimental animals have shown that the B cell passes through the cell cycle at a relatively high rate but that the fraction of proliferating cells is low. Regulation of growth of the total B-cell mass seems to take place by changes in the number of B cells passing through the cell cycle rather than by changes in the rate of the cycle. The number of proliferating B cells also shows a marked decrease with age. It is at present uncertain to what extent these regulatory mechanisms apply also to the human B cell but it can be anticipated that further technical developments will elucidate this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blood flow to the pancreatic islets of the rat was estimated with the microsphere technique. Experiments with microspheres of different sizes (diameter 10, 15 or 50 μm) showed that optimal results were obtained with 10-μm spheres. Localization of microspheres either within or outside the islets was accomplished by freeze-thawing of the pancreas, making it transparent, so that both islets and microspheres could be distinguished in dark field illumination. Thus, microscopic examination of the freeze-thawed pancreas allowed the microspheres to be counted separately in both the endocrine and exocrine parenchyma. Under basal conditions, pancreatic blood flow was calculated as O.60 ml·min·g (w/w). The islets accounted for about 10% of the total pancreatic blood flow, corresponding to 0.069 ml/min per whole pancreas. A bolus dose of glucose increased pancreatic blood flow to0.75 ml·min·g( p <0.05), while the fractional islet blood flow rose to 15.1% ( p <0.001) corresponding to 0.125ml· min·pancreas ( p·<0.001). The glucose-induced increase in pancreatic blood flow mainly resulted from increased flow to the pancreatic tail, while the corresponding increase in islet blood flow was uniformly distributed throughout the pancreas. Injection of the non-metabolizable glucose-derivate, 3-0-methyl-D-glucose, affected neither the pancreatic nor the islet blood flow. The data indicate that the islets receive more of the pancreatic blood flow than would be accounted for by their relative volume and that glucose preferentially stimulates blood flow to the islets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inhibitory effects of somatostatin on the release of insulin and glucagon, as well as its localization to the A-cells (D-cells) of the pancreatic islets, suggest a role of this peptide in carbohydrate metabolism. In the present study we have measured the percentage islet volume, the total weight of the A-cells and the somatostatin concentration in the pancreas of normal and spontaneously diabetic Chinese hamsters. In addition, the concentration of somatostatin in the stomach and hypothalamus as well as the insulin and glucagon content of the pancreas were evaluated. The percentage islet volume in the normal hamsters was 0.66±0.12, which was in marked excess of that in the diabetic group, 0.38±0.04. Similarly, the total weight of the A-cells in the controls, 0.17±0.02 mg, was significantly larger than that in the diabetic animals, 0.12±0.02 mg. In agreement with these findings there was also a decreased pancreatic concentration of insulin and somatostatin, whereas the glucagon concentration was in the normal range. Also the stomach of the diabetic hamsters showed a decreased concentration of somatostatin. In the hypothalamus the total content of somatostatin appeared similar in the two groups of animals, but when expressed per mg wet weight this value was also decreased in the diabetic hamsters. These observations strongly suggest that, in the diabetic Chinese hamster, apart from the well-known B-cell deficiency there exists also a decreased functional activity of the somatostatin-producing cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isolated mouse pancreatic islets were maintained in tissue culture for up to 12 days in glucose concentrations varying between 3.3 and 28 ml. A satisfactory ultrastructural preservation of the islet cells was found irrespective of the glucose concentration of the culture medium. While the B-cells of islets cultured in the lower glucose concentration showed slight degranulation, there was extensive degranulation and increased amounts of rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum after culture in the higher glucose concentration. The immunoreactive insulin content of islets cultured at 28 mM glucose was markedly decreased and the insulin secretion during the culture period was much higher than that of islets cultured at 3.3 mM glucose. The insulin biosynthesis, as reflected in the incorporation ofH-leucine into gel chromatographed extracts of acid-ethanol soluble islet proteins, was studied either during the culture period or at the end of a 6-day culture in short-term incubations lasting for 90 or 180 min. The results consistently showed that the biosynthesis of insulin proceeded at a high rate and remained regulated by glucose throughout the culture period. The continuous addition of newly synthesized and labelled insulin to the small intracellular insulin pool of the high-glucose cultured B-cells produced a very high specific radioactivity of the insulin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capillary volumes in the endocrine and exocrine parenchyma of the pancreas were compared with a point-sampling technique. The islets were found to have a capillary volume of approximately 3.5%, while the value for the exocrine pancreas was significantly ( P<0.001) lower at 2%. When the capillary wall area was measured, however, both types of parenchyma had a similar value of approximately 20 mm/mm tissue. The reason for the discrepancy between these parameters is probably the lack of lymphatic capillarics, with their relatively small lumen in the islets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphological and histochemical studies of the developing human islet cells are facilitated by the characteristic localization of the different islet cell types from about the third intrauterine month. By combining light microscopical analyses of silver impregnated and granule stained pancreatic sections with electron microscopy of osmium fixed material, the following four types of islet cells could be identified: (1) A cells containing faint globular granules. These granules could be visualized only with the electron microscope. (2) A cells containing electron-dense globular granules. It is uncertain whether the observation of a light and a dark variety of the A cells reflects different stages of maturation or signifies cells with different secretion products. (3) B cells with irregular granules, which were often accumulated at the capillary pole of the cells. (4) Agranular islet cells. Mixed forms of A cells containing both faint and dense granules were also encountered. The difficulties in evaluating in the light microscope what may be called D cells in the human fetal islets were obvious from the observation of more cells stained with light-green than A cells. Except for acid phosphatases, the histochemical tests for different phosphatases and esterases revealed rather weak or negative reactions in the islet cells. The development of phosphatase and esterase activities in the islets seemed far from complete, when morphologically differentiated islet cells could be recognized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Diabetologia is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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Copyright of Experientia is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)