Insulin and glucagon release from monolayer pancreatic islet cell cultures were inhibited in a dose-response fashion by various enkephalins. Morphine, however, stimulated insulin and glucagon release. Both effects were blocked by naloxone, while naloxone alone had no effect. In isolated and denervated islet cells, opiates directly influence secretion from islet cells.

We describe a 42-year-old man with von Hippel-Lindau disease and islet cell tumor of the pancreas. He had retinal and cerebellar hemangioblastomas. His sister had pheochromocytoma. A pancreatic tumor was detected by ultrasonography at his periodical medical checkup. Contrast enhanced computed tomography and abdominal angiography revealed a hypervascular tumor in the pancreatic head. Histologica...

Enhanced expression of chemotactic cytokines (aka chemokines) within pancreatic islets likely contributes to islet inflammation by regulating the recruitment and activation of various leukocyte populations, including macrophages, neutrophils, and T-lymphocytes. Because of the powerful actions of these chemokines, precise transcriptional control is required. In this review, we highlight what is ...

Pancreatic islet formation is a highly regulated process that is initiated at the end of gestation in rodents. Endocrine precursor cells first form within the epithelium of duct-like structures and then delaminate from the epithelium, migrate, and cluster during the early stages of islet formation. The molecular mechanisms that regulate endocrine cell migration and islet formation are not well ...

vanadium salts have been suggested as a possible therapeutic agent for the treatment of diabetes. the aim of the present study was to clarify histological and immunohistochemical changes that occur in the pancreatic beta (β) cells of vanadyl sulphate (vs)-treated streptozotocin (stz) induced diabetic rats. male wi star rats were made diabetic by injecting a single intravenous dose of stz (40 mg...

Streptozotocin (STZ) selectively destroys insulin-producing beta islet cells of the pancreas providing a model of type I diabetes. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) is a nuclear enzyme whose overactivation by DNA strand breaks depletes its substrate NAD+ and then ATP, leading to cellular death from energy depletion. We demonstrate DNA damage and a major activation of PARP in pancreatic islets ...

Over a period of years, insulin-dependent diabetes and respiratory insufficiency developed in a 35-year-old patient with end-stage cystic fibrosis. After waiting more than 4 years while receiving maintenance treatment with continuous liquid O2 and nasal ventilation, the patient underwent double-lung and pancreatic islet cell transplantation. Subsequently, the patient has enjoyed a normal life w...

Menin, the product of the MEN1 gene, functions as a tumor suppressor and was first identified in 1997 due to its causative role in the endocrine tumor disorder multiple endocrine neoplasia, type 1 (MEN1). More recently, menin has been identified as a key player in pancreatic islet biology with the observation of an inverse relationship between menin levels and pancreatic islet proliferation. Ho...

Regenerating genes (Reg) have been found during the search for factors involved in pancreatic islet regeneration. Our recent study discovered that pancreatic β-cell-specific overexpression of Reg3β protects against streptozotocin (Stz) -induced diabetes in mice. To investigate its potential roles in the treatment of diabetes, we produced a recombinant Reg3β protein and provided evidence that it...