Morphometric and Immunohistochemical Study on the Endocrine Cells of Pancreatic Transplants

The endocrine cells of embryonic pancreatic tissue fragments transplanted into the anterior eye-chamber of rats for 74 days were investigated immunohistochemically and morphometrically and the results obtained were compared with that of normal tissue. Four types of endocrine cells were identified and their distribution was as follows: insulin: 42”52%, glucagon: 11”28%, somatostatin: 4%, and pancreatic polypeptide-positive cells: 3”6%. Their size in square micrometer were as follows: 153, 110, 38 and 51. The area, number, distribution and topography of these endocrine cells with regard to each other did not differ significantly from that of normal tissue. The area of each islet and their cell population vary considerably both in normal and transplanted pancreas.