Histology of Type 1 Diabetes Pancreas

Methods in Molecular Biology
Abby Willcox, Kathleen M Gillespie

Abstract

The islets of Langerhans play a critical role in glucose homeostasis. Islets are predominantly composed of insulin-secreting beta cells and glucagon-secreting alpha cells. In type 1 diabetes, the beta cells are destroyed by autoimmune destruction of insulin producing beta cells resulting in hyperglycemia. This is a gradual process, taking from several months to decades. Much of the beta cell destruction takes place during a silent, asymptomatic phase. Type 1 diabetes becomes clinically evident upon destruction of approximately 70-80 % of beta cell mass. Studying the decline in beta cell mass and the cells which are responsible for their demise is difficult as pancreatic biopsies are not feasible in patients with type 1 diabetes. The relative size of islets and their dispersed location throughout the pancreas means in vivo imaging of human islets is currently not manageable. At present, there are no validated biomarkers which accurately track the decline in beta cell mass in individuals who are at risk of developing, or have already developed, type 1 diabetes. Therefore, studies of pancreatic tissue retrieved at autopsy from donors with type 1 diabetes, or donors with high risk markers of type 1 diabetes such as circulating isle...Continue Reading

Citations

Apr 22, 2017·Diabetic Medicine : a Journal of the British Diabetic Association·N G Morgan
Jun 19, 2019·Cell and Tissue Research·Rachel StinerJonathan R T Lakey

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