The size and number of Langerhans islets correlated with their endocrine function: a morphometry on immunostained serial sections of adult human pancreases.

Surgical and autopsy specimens of normal pancreas from three human adults were submitted to morphometry of Langerhans islets and so-called extra insular islet cells, by measuring the islet radii on serial sections immunostained for either insulin or glucagon. All the islets contained in a test volume were measured including single cells, and the distribution of their radial sizes was studied. It was found that the distribution of islets was strongly skewed and continuous, with the majority of islets having radial values near to the minimum. From the fact that only one peak was found in the distribution curve, it is concluded that in spite of the distinction previously made between islets of Langerhans and so-called extra-islet cells, they are in fact both part of a continuous distribution. Moreover, the Weibull function, assumed as the theoretical distribution, fit well with the empirical histograms, giving support for the contention of continuous distribution with a single peak. Although the small islets account for a majority of the number of islets, they account for only a very small percentage of the islet volume. This is thought to indicate that the bulk of the endocrine functions of the pancreas are carried out by large islets, whereas the so-called extra-islet cells are likely to be their precursors. With regard to the cellular structure of the islets, it was found that the smaller the islet, the smaller the percentage of islets containing A cells, with the vast majority of cells in the smallest islets (often single cells) being B cells.