Pancreas Anatomy Flashcards
What does the pancreas develop from?
The organ develops as outgrowth of the foregut (dorsal and ventral) and the Langerhans islets bud off from the developing exocrine pancreas.
What is the function of the exocrine pancreas?
Secretes digestive enzymes- Secreted in response to gastrointestinal hormones (e.g. cholecystokinin; CCK)
Also secretes bicarbonate (base) to neutralize acid produced in the stomach-
Secreted in response to secretin (hormone produced by intestinal cells)
Where is the endocrine pancreas situated?
The endocrine compartment of the pancreas is concentrated in the islets of Langerhans (1-2% of the pancreas)
What cells does the endocrine pancreas consist of?
β-cells (dog:75 %)
α-cells (dog: 20 %)
δ (delta)-cells
What do the cells of the islet produce?
β-cells which produce Insulin (dog:75 %)
α-cells which produce Glucagon (dog: 20 %)
δ (delta)-cells which produce Somatostatin
Other hormones also produced by the islet cells include:Pancreatic polypeptide, ghrelin, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), secretin, motilin, and substance P
What is different about the horse pancreas?
The lobes are fused
Which species have fused pancreas lobes (partially)?
Ox, sheep and pig
Where does the pancreas arise from
The final liver and pancreas are made from glandular tissue from the gut plus connective tissue from mesenchyme.
Where is somatostatin produuced?
Hypothalamus (periventricular nucleus)
Stomach
Intestine
Pancreas (delta cells)
What does somatostatin from the delta cells do?
Acts to supress insulin and glucagon secretion by local beta and alpha cells
Why does insulin need to be injected rather than taken orrally?
Insulin is a peotide hormone which means that it needs to be injected otherwise it would be digested
How is insulin produced?
It is Secreted by the beta cells of the Islets of Langerhans where it is first synthesized as a preprohormone and then converted to a prohormone called proinsulin
What is the purpose of making insulin as a prohormone?
This forms an Intracytoplasmic pool of proinsulin
What is the C-peptide and how is it formed?
Secretion of insulin involves the removal of C-peptide from proinsulin, C-peptide is the connecting peptide.
The C-peptide is then released with the insulin but it is biologically inactive
How can we use C-peptide?
Because it is removed from the body at a slower rate it is useful to measure pancreatic function (but not often done in animals)
What does the insulin molecule consist of?
Insulin molecule consists of two polypeptide chains of length 21 (α) and 30 (β) amino acids.
These two chains are connected by two disulphide bonds
Where is insulin degraded?
Degradation of insulin is done in the liver and kidneys within target cells after the insulin binds to the receptor and is broken by cleavage of these disulphide bonds