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Updated: Jun 17, 2026

A Method for Mouse Pancreatic Islet Isolation and Intracellular cAMP Determination
Published on: June 25, 2014
Islet inflammation impairs the pancreatic beta-cell in type 2 diabetes
Marc Y Donath1, Marianne Böni-Schnetzler, Helga Ellingsgaard
1Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition, and Center for Integrated Human Physiology, University Hospital of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. marc.donath@usz.ch
Abstract:
Onset of Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreatic beta-cell fails to adapt to the increased insulin demand caused by insulin resistance. Morphological and therapeutic intervention studies have uncovered an inflammatory process in islets of patients with Type 2 diabetes characterized by the presence of cytokines, immune cells, beta-cell apoptosis, amyloid deposits, and fibrosis. This insulitis is due to a pathological activation of the innate immune system by metabolic stress and governed by IL-1 signaling. We propose that this insulitis contributes to the decrease in beta-cell mass and the impaired insulin secretion observed in patients with Type 2 diabetes.
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