Regional differences of the pancreatic islet.

Simard (1945) found an almost complete disappearance of the A cell in a subcutaneous pancreatic transplant of one dog which had been operated upon following the method of Ivy and Farrell (1926). Our interest in the A cell in relation to Glucagon led us to investigate the possibilities offered by Simard]s work. In the present study we have confirmed Simard]s observations that the transplanted segment was devoid of A cells and have concluded that regional differences in islet cell composition were responsible for the absence of A cells in the transplants. MATERIAL AND METHODS Eight dogs weighing between 20 and 50 pounds and two mature cats were used. Animals were killed with nembutal and their pancreas completely removed. All tissues unless otherwise specified, were fixed in Zenker-Formol, embedded in paraffin, and cut at 2.5 m Some sections were stained with Masson]s trichrome and Gomori]s Chrome Alum hematoxylin following a procedure previously described (Bencosme, 1952)