Immunohistochemical study to detect glucagon and insulin hormones in pancreas of camel and buffalo

Abstract

<jats:p>Background and Aim: Glucagon plays a significant role in glucose homeostasis by controlling hepatic glucose output in terms of both hypoglycemic and normoglycemic conditions. This study aimed to determine the amount and intensity of insulin and glucagon in addition to estimating the relationship between α- and β-cells for two animals, camel and buffalo. Materials and Methods: Twenty fresh pancreas samples were collected from 10 buffalo and 10 camel adults immediately after slaughter from AL-Kut abattoir, Al- Kut, Iraq. Hematoxylin and eosin staining technique and the immunohistochemistry technique were used. Results: The histological results, for both animals, showed the cells of the pancreatic islet could be differentiated from the exocrine cells by their paler appearance. The pancreatic islets were round, oval, and irregular shaped. In the camel, the pancreatic islets had a larger diameter than that in the buffalo. The average diameter of β-cells and their percentage was higher than those of the α-cells in the camel. In the buffalo, glucagon-immunoreactive cells were found in abundance with high intensity, whereas insulin-immunoreactive cells were more prominent with high intensity in the camel. In both animals, the α-cells and glucagon-immunoreactive cells were distributed on the peripheries of the pancreatic islets, whereas the β-cells were distributed throughout the pancreatic islets. Conclusion: The study inferences that these differences may be due to the differences in the environment of the animals which affect the structures of body organs.</jats:p>

Postnatal Development of Endocrine Pancreatic Islets of an Egyptian One-humped Camel (Camelus dromedarius)

“…The present study revealed variation in the size of pancreatic islets during postnatal development of the pancreas in camels where the pancreatic islets increased in diameter with age, from 70.3 ± 1.5 µm in 4 years to 97 ± 1.6 µm in 18 years in the camel pancreas (Table . 3), which is in agreement with the results of Bargooth et al (2020), who found that the diameter of a pancreatic islet in an adult camel was 98 ± 0.5 µm. The increase in pancreatic islet size with age may be related to the various needs of hormone secretion by the pancreatic islets for metabolism in the camel pancreas, which is primarily influenced by blood glucose levels.…”

“…The pancreatic islets in the present study were scattered throughout the camel pancreas and had varied shapes, which is consistent with previous research (Bargooth et al, 2020). In contrast to the findings of the current study in camels, Hafez et al (2015) noticed clear and strong delineation in horses.…”

“…Mahesh et al (2017) found that the size of pancreatic islets in sheep is larger than that in goats. According to Bargooth et al (2020), the pancreatic islet diameter of a buffalo is smaller than that of a camel. However, there are many studies in the pancreas of different mammals; most of the previous studies were conducted on adults only.…”

“…The pancreatic islets in the mammalian pancreas are composed of insulinproducing cells (β-cells), glucagonproducing cells (α-cells) and somatostatinproducing cells (Δ-cells) (Adeghate, 2001). The beta cells have a central location in the pancreatic islets in the majority of domestic mammals (Mukherjee et al, 1988;Sultan, 1999;Bargooth et al, 2020). However, the horse seemed to be the exception since the beta cells were located peripherally in the pancreatic islets (Furuoka et al, 1989;Hafez et al, 2015).…”

“…But aside from this, nothing is understood about controlling blood sugar and how the endocrine pancreas contributes to this phenomenon in camels. Only a few histological studies have been performed on the endocrine pancreas of adult one-humped camels (Adeghate, 1997;Tadjalli and Meamary, 1998;Hafez et al, 2015;Bargooth et al, 2020). But none of the previous studies described the postnatal development of pancreatic islets in camels.…”