Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 6, 2026

Laser Doppler: A Tool for Measuring Pancreatic Islet Microvascular Vasomotion In Vivo
Published on: March 8, 2018
Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide increases whole pancreatic blood flow but does not affect islet blood flow in the
1Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, Sweden.
Abstract:
To evaluate the effects of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) on whole pancreatic blood flow and islet blood flow in the rat, anaesthetized adult rats were injected intravenously for 90 s with VIP (500 ng/kg body weight). Immediately after the injection, the whole pancreatic and islet blood flows were measured with a microsphere technique. VIP markedly increased the former but did not affect the latter. Thus, the fraction of the whole pancreatic blood flow diverted through the islets was decreased. In separate experiments, the effects of VIP on the blood glucose and serum insulin concentrations of anaesthetized animals were investigated. VIP caused an acute increase (after 2 min) in the latter, but did not affect the former. It is concluded that VIP exerts its blood flow stimulatory properties only on the exocrine pancreas, and that it may increase the serum insulin concentrations without an associated change in islet blood perfusion.
Related Concept Videos
Insulin Secretory Vesicles
Glucose Homeostasis: Pancreatic Islets and Insulin Secretion
Insulin and C-peptide are co-secreted in...
Glucagon-like Receptor Agonists
GLP-1, when administered in high doses intravenously, triggers insulin secretion, inhibits glucagon release, slows gastric emptying, reduces food intake, and restores normal insulin secretion. However, its rapid inactivation by the...

