[Quantitative estimation of pancreatic islet cells in diabetes mellitus]

Pancreatic tissues from 40 autopsies of diabetes mellitus and 10 surgically resected non-diabetic pancreatic specimens were studied morphologically and immunocytochemically. Slides were stained for insulin(B), glucagon(A), somatostatin(D), and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) producing cells using immunocytochemistry. Morphometric study disclosed a significant decrease in the number of B-cells and a relative increase in the number of A cells, the A/B ratio shifted from 1:2.3 in controls to 1:0.9 in diabetics. No significant change was found in the number of D and PP cells in diabetics as compared with those in controls. The results of this study have further proved the presence of B cell reduction in diabetic patients.