Which cells of the pancreas are the endocrine cells How were

Which cells of the pancreas are the endocrine cells? How were you able to differentiate these cells when viewing the slide? Do these cells make up the majority or the minority of the pancreatic tissue?

Solution

Pancreas is an elongated organ located posterior to the stomach. The head of the pancreas is present in the C –shaped curve of the duodenum and its tail is located against the spleen.

It acts as both endocrine and exocrine gland. It secretes digestive juices directly into the digestive tract but not into the systemic circulation. It is the exocrine function of pancreas.

The acinar cells of the pancreas make up the bulk of pancreas and produce the pancreatic juice. The clusters formed by these acinar cells release their contents into the tiny tubes surrounding them. These tiny tubes unite to form the pancreatic duct, which empties the pancreatic juice into the small intestine.

The “Islets of Pancreas” constitute the endocrine cells of the pancreas (islets of Langerhans) contain four types of cells namely “alpha, beta, delta and F cells.” Alpha cells secrete glucagon and beta cells secrete insulin. Delta cells produce somatostatin, and F cells produce pancreatic polypeptide (PP) hormone.

The islets are mostly concentrated in the tail region of pancreas and they can be identified by the islets lined by a connective tissue membrane.