The leptin deficient ob/ob mouse is a widely used model for studies on initial aspects of metabolic disturbances leading to type 2 diabetes, including insulin resistance and obesity. Although it is generally accepted that ob/ob mice display a dramatic increase in β-cell mass to compensate for increased insulin demand, the spatial and quantitative dynamics of β-cell mass distribution in this model has not been assessed by modern optical 3D imaging techniques. We applied optical projection tomography and ultramicroscopy imaging to extract information about individual islet β-cell volumes throughout the volume of ob/ob pancreas between 4 and 52 weeks of age. Our data show that cystic lesions constitute a significant volume of the hyperplastic ob/ob islets. We propose that these lesions are formed by a mechanism involving extravasation of red blood cells/plasma due to increased islet vessel blood flow and vessel instability. Further, our data indicate that the primary lobular compartments of the ob/ob pancreas have different potentials for expanding their β-cell population. Unawareness of the characteristics of β-cell expansion in ob/ob mice presented in this report may significantly influence ex vivo and in vivo assessments of this model in studies of β-cell adaptation and function.

No abstract

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) has become a promising experimental approach to monitor changes in β-cell mass (BCM) during diabetes progression. SPECT imaging of pancreatic islets is most commonly cross-validated by stereological analysis of histological pancreatic sections after insulin staining. Typically, stereological methods do not accurately determine the total β-cell volume, which is inconvenient when correlating total pancreatic tracer uptake with BCM. Alternative methods are therefore warranted to cross-validate β-cell imaging using radiotracers. In this study, we introduce multimodal SPECT - optical projection tomography (OPT) imaging as an accurate approach to cross-validate radionuclide-based imaging of β-cells. Uptake of a promising radiotracer for β-cell imaging by SPECT, 111In-exendin-3, was measured by ex vivo-SPECT and cross evaluated by 3D quantitative OPT imaging as well as with histology within healthy and alloxan-treated Brown Norway rat pancreata. SPECT signal was in excellent linear correlation with OPT data as compared to histology. While histological determination of islet spatial distribution was challenging, SPECT and OPT revealed similar distribution patterns of 111In-exendin-3 and insulin positive β-cell volumes between different pancreatic lobes, both visually and quantitatively. We propose ex vivo SPECT-OPT multimodal imaging as a highly accurate strategy for validating the performance of β-cell radiotracers.

Aims/hypothesis Genetic studies show coupling of genes affecting beta cell function to type 1 diabetes, but hitherto no studies on whether beta cell dysfunction could precede insulitis and clinical onset of type 1 diabetes are available. Methods We used 40-day-old BioBreeding (BB) DRLyp/Lyp rats (a model of spontaneous autoimmune type 1 diabetes) and diabetes-resistant DRLyp/+ and DR+/+ littermates (controls) to investigate beta cell function in vivo, and insulin and glucagon secretion in vitro. Beta cell mass was assessed by optical projection tomography (OPT) and morphometry. Additionally, measurements of intra-islet blood flow were performed using microsphere injections. We also assessed immune cell infiltration, cytokine expression in islets (by immunohistochemistry and qPCR), as well as islet Glut2 expression and ATP/ADP ratio to determine effects on glucose uptake and metabolism in beta cells. Results DRLyp/Lyp rats were normoglycaemic and without traces of immune cell infiltrates. However, IVGTTs revealed a significant decrease in the acute insulin response to glucose compared with control rats (1685.3 ± 121.3 vs 633.3 ± 148.7; p < 0.0001). In agreement, insulin secretion was severely perturbed in isolated islets, and both first-and second-phase insulin release were lowered compared with control rats, while glucagon secretion was similar in both groups. Interestingly, after 5-7 days of culture of islets from DRLyp/Lyp rats in normal media, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) was improved; although, a significant decrease in GSIS was still evident compared with islets from control rats at this time (7393.9 ± 1593.7 vs 4416.8 ± 1230.5 pg islet −1 h −1 ; p < 0.0001). Compared with controls, OPT of whole pancreas from DRLyp/Lyp rats revealed significant reductions in medium (4.1 × 10 9 ± 9.5 × 10 7 vs 3.8 × 10 9 ± 5.8 × 10 7 μm 3 ; p = 0.044) and small sized islets (1.6 × 10 9 ± 5.1 × 10 7 vs 1.4 × 10 9 ± 4.5 × 10 7 μm 3 ; p = 0.035). Finally, we found lower intra-islet blood perfusion in vivo (113.1 ± 16.8 vs 76.9 ± 11.8 μl min −1 [g pancreas] −1 ; p = 0.023) and alterations in the beta cell ATP/ADP ratio in DRLyp/Lyp rats vs control rats. Conclusions/interpretation The present study identifies a deterioration of beta cell function and mass, and intra-islet blood flow that precedes insulitis and diabetes development in animals prone to autoimmune type 1 diabetes. These underlying changes in islet function may be previously unrecognised factors of importance in type 1 diabetes development.

A detailed understanding of pancreatic β-cell mass distribution is a key element to fully appreciate the pathophysiology of models of diabetes and metabolic stress. Commonly, such assessments have been performed by stereological approaches that rely on the extrapolation of two-dimensional data and provide very limited topological information. We present ex vivo optical tomographic data sets of the full β-cell mass distribution in cohorts of obese ob/ob mice and their lean controls, together with information about individual islet β-cell volumes, their three-dimensional coordinates and shape throughout the volume of the pancreas between 4 and 52 weeks of age. These data sets offer the currently most comprehensive public record of the β-cell mass distribution in the mouse. As such, they may serve as a quantitative and topological reference for the planning of a variety of in vivo or ex vivo experiments including computational modelling and statistical analyses. By shedding light on intra- and inter-lobular variations in β-cell mass distribution, they further provide a powerful tool for the planning of stereological sampling assessments.