IN-VITRO MORPHOFUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF PANCREATIC-ISLETS ISOLATED FROMTHE DOMESTIC CHICKEN

The technique whereby islets were isolated from the pancreas of chicke n and their in vitro histological and functional characterization are described in this paper. Our isolation procedure consisted of two step s: initially the pancreas removed from the chicken was perfused with a 2% solution of collagenase and enzymatic digestion was then carried o ut using the same solution. After this, density gradient separation wa s performed on the digested tissue, by means of differing Histopaque s olutions: at the end of the separation, the islets were studied by lig ht microscopy after treatment with diphenylthiocarbazone, which select ively stains beta-cells, and by scanning and transmission electron mic roscopy. The results reported here show the pattern closely resembled that encountered when islets were studied in situ. The beta-cells of t he islets proved in vitro to preserve their functional capability of p roducing insulin even after stimulation with glucose or arginine.