Electron Microscopy of Human Pancreatic Islet

Abstract

At the present time there are a few published accounts concerning electron microscopic observation of the islet of LANGERHANS. DALTON (1954) and ROBERTSON (1954) have published short references to the ultrastructure of the pancreatic islet, mainly about the exocrine glands of the pancreas. The most important study in these fields was made by LACY (1956). He has identified the islet cells in different species of animals while considereing the essence of the application of electron microscopy to the study of experimental diabetes. Recently BEN-COSME et al. (1958) and STOECKENIUS et al. (1958) have made the works on the electron microscopy in the cat, rat and guinea pig. But conserning the human pancreatic islet, we have no published articles, and then we have made the observation on the human pancreatic islets and got some interesting views. The object of this paper is to extend the knowledge in the ultrastructures of the LANGER-HANS' islets.I. Material and Methods.Human pancreas used in this work was examinationally excised from the patient, aging 33, duoted gastric ulcer. A portion of the excised tissues was denuded its surface and rapidly cut into small (1mm) pieces and fixed for 2 hours in the fluid consisting of equal amount of 2% osmic acid and veronalsolution buffered to pH 7.4 in the ice box. The fixed tissues were rinsed with physyological salt solution and dehydrated within one-half hour period in increasing concentration of ethyl alcohol.The tissue were then transferred to a half and half mixture of absolute ethanol and methacrylate, and were embedded in 8:2 mixture of n-butyl methacrylate and methyl-methacrylate. Sections were cut with glass knives of J. U. M. 4 type microtome. Thick sections were examined by photomicroscope after stained with hematoxylin-eosin in order to localize the islets within the blocks of pancreas. Thin sections were observed with electron microscope of J. E. M. 4 A type.II. Observation.From the arrangement of the islet cells and the pale tone of their cytoplasm, 429

Electron Microscopic Study on the Human Pancreatic Islets

“…The characteristic lipoidal bodies in human islet cells were described by almost all investigators engaged in electron microscopic observations of human endocrine pancreas (YOKOH et al, 1959;LAZARUS and YOLK, 1962;BENCOSME et al, 1963;GREIDER and ELLIOTT, 1964;LIKE, 1967). LAZALUS and YOLK (1962) regarded them as multivacuolated osmiophilic "lipochrome" bodies and LIKE (1967) as multivesicular "ceroid" pigment bodies.…”

“…Numerous electron microscopic studies have been published on the pancreatic islets in a variety of animal species, but those on the normal human islets are relatively few (YOKOH, IIZUKA and KANO, 1959;EKHOLM and EDLUND, 1959;GUSEK andKRACHT, 1959, 1961;ZAGURY, BRUX, ANCLA and LEGER, 1961;LACY, 1961LACY, , 1964LAZARUS and YOLK, 1962;BENCOSME, ALLEN and LATTA, 1963;GREIDER, ELLIOTT and ZOLLINGER, 1963;GREIDER and ELLIOTT 1964;BJORKMAN, HELLERSTROM, HELLMAN and PETERSSON 1966; on human fetus: SCHULTRICH, 1966 andLIKE, 1967). Among these authors LAZARUS and YOLK, GREIDER and ELLIOTT and BENCOSME, ALLEN and LATTA used biopsy materials taken from the uninvolved areas around pancreatic tumors.…”