Abstract
Introduction. Morphological evidence for reinnervation of pancreatic islet grafts is plentiful. However, to what extent intra-graft nerves influence the endocrine functions of the islet transplant is largely unknown. We therefore aimed to directly stimulate nerves leading to islet grafts with electrodes and measure insulin secretion in response to this.Methods. We implanted syngeneic islets under the renal capsule of rats, and examined them 1 or 7–9 months later. In anesthetized rats blood samples were collected from the renal vein and femoral artery, respectively, during electrode stimulation of the nerves leading to the islet grafts.Results. As expected, nerve stimulation decreased renal blood flow. However, serum insulin concentrations in samples derived from the renal vein or femoral artery changed in concert with one another, both during normoglycemia and acute hyperglycemia.Conclusion. Reinnervation which occurs after islet transplantation under the renal capsule has minor effects on graft endocrine function.
Highlights
Morphological evidence for reinnervation of pancreatic islet grafts is plentiful
Previous experimental studies have demonstrated that reinnervation occurs in transplanted pancreatic islets, even though it usually takes several months until any significant number of nerves can be recognized [9,11,15]
The types of nerves differ from those seen in endogenous islets [9,11,18], mainly encompassing sympathetic nerves in association with blood vessels, a finding which was confirmed in the present study
Summary
Morphological evidence for reinnervation of pancreatic islet grafts is plentiful. to what extent intragraft nerves influence the endocrine functions of the islet transplant is largely unknown. In anesthetized rats blood samples were collected from the renal vein and femoral artery, respectively, during electrode stimulation of the nerves leading to the islet grafts. Reinnervation which occurs after islet transplantation under the renal capsule has minor effects on graft endocrine function. The aim of the present study was to evaluate functionally if intra-graft nerves affect insulin secretion from the grafts by directly stimulating these nerves with electrodes.
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