[Preparation of an insulin-like substance from molluscs and its antiserum]

A substance with insulin-like activity was obtained from visceral organs (excluding foot, gills and mantle) of the freshwater bivalve molluscs Unio pictorum and Anodonta cygnea. Injecting this substance to guinea pigs, antiserum was also obtained. Using the obtained antiserum in immunostaining experiments, the cells which produce insulin-like substance were identified in the intestinal epithelium of the midgut in A. cygnea.