The isolation and study of mammalian islets of langherhans

Abstract

The study of metabolism of isolated tissues is of remarkable importance in biochemistry and physiology. The main objective of this article is to review some of the methods used to isolate mammalian islets of Langerhans from mammalian pancreas. There are two methods by which these can be isolated, namely, micro-dissection, and the selective enzyme treatment to loosen or remove much of the acinar tissue. The results obtained by these methods are indicated, whereby it is evident that isolated islets of Langerhans are amenable to study by suitable micro-methods. It is encouraging that the results obtained correspond with the knowledge of endocrine pancreatic function.