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Quantitative estimation of islet tissue of pancreas in adult Grey kangaroos ( Macropus fuliginosus )
Author(s) -
Edwin Nalini
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1984.tb06049.x
Subject(s) - biology , pancreas , islet , anatomy , body weight , endocrinology , insulin
Six Grey kangaroos, both male and female, were shot and weighed. The pancreas was isolated, weighed and samples fixed in Bouin's solution. Using a linear scanning technique (Carpenter & Lazarow, 1962) the mean islet tissue mass was estimated in head, neck, body and tail regions. A uniform distribution was found in all regions. The relationship between pancreas weight and body weight and islet mass in relation to body weight were calculated. Sections stained with aldehyde‐fuchsin (Gomori, 1950), Mallory's phosphotungstic acid haemotoxylin and modified Davenport's technique (Epple, 1967) were prepared. Using a Wild‐M501 semiautomatic sampling microscope and a Weibel graticule (Weibel et al., 1966) the percentage volume of β cells, α cells and δ cells were estimated respectively in the head, neck, body and tail regions of the six samples. The α cells or glucagon‐producing cells were the most predominant as these macropodid marsupials are well adapted to dealing with hypoglycemic conditions. They were uniformly distributed in all regions.