Neonatal infections alter islet maturation

The possibility to study the absolute volume and number of the insulin producing islets of Langerhans would have widespread implications for diabetes research and care. Unfortunately, such assessments have been effectively hindered by technological limitations. We have developed new protocols for optical imaging of large specimen of human pancreatic tissue with a level of detail that has not been possible with previous technology.

As demonstrated by our proof -of-principle studies, we should by able to bring this information back into 3D space to create the most detailed data sets ever presented, with preserved spatial context of the islets, of the entire human pancreas. Its our expectation that these studies not only will add significantly to our general understanding of the human pancreatic anatomy. We further believe that they will serve as the foundation fora broad variety of research assessments of both pre-clinical and clinical nature, providing a more complete understanding of the changes that occur in the human pancreas during progression of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.