Pathohistological changes were investigated in the pancreas of a recently inbred 'non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse' which becomes diabetic due to severe insulitis which resembles that in human juvenile onset or Type I diabetes. In 4 and 5 week old mice, pancreatic islets are infiltrated by lymphocytes. This lymphocytic insulitis selectively and progressively destroy the B cells of islets. The diabetic symptoms appear when most of the B cells have been lost. The circulation route and the nature of the infiltrating lymphocytes as well as the cytological changes in the B and other islet cells were studied by light and electron microscopy. Immunohistochemistry for insulin, glucagon, somatostatin and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) added information on the process leading to the disappearance of insulin and the attitude of the islet cells containing other hormones.

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An adenocarcinoma of the second portion of the duodenum in a 26-year-old male is presented. The patient was suffering from pain in the epigastrium. Immunofluorescent studies revealed that it consisted almost exclusively of cells with a distincly positive somatostatin-like immunoreactivity. Ultrastructurally, the cytoplasm of the tumor cells had numerous large round granules (about 400 micrometers) with variable electron density. Most of these cells closely resembled the D cells normally seen in the duodenum and the islets of the pancreas, although a few argyrophil cells could be demonstrated by light microscopy. Radioimmunoassay of extracts of the tumor revealed a large amount of somatostatin (2260 pg/mg); substance P and VIP were detected also. Somatostatinoma has been known to occur in the pancreas, but this seems to be the first somatostatinoma found in the intestine.

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