Immunohistochemical study on the expression of biologically active substances in the endocrine pancreas of the European bison

Previous morphological studies of mammalian pancreatic islets have been performed mainly in domestic and laboratory animals. Therefore, the present immunohistochemical investigation was conducted in a wild species, the European bison, using antibodies against glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP1), glucagon, insulin and somatostatin. Morphological analyses revealed that the mean area of the endocrine pancreas constituted 2.1 +/- 0.1% of the whole area of the pancreas, while the mean area of a single pancreatic islet was 13301.5 +/- 686.5 mu m(2). Glucagon-immunoreactive cells accounted for 22.4 +/- 1.1% and occupied 19.4 +/- 0.4% of the average islet area. As many as 14.3 +/- 1.4% of pancreatic islet cells were shown to express GLP1, which constituted 12.6 +/- 0.8% of the mean area of the islet. Insulin expression was confirmed in 67.6 +/- 0.7% of pancreatic islet cells, which represented 62.3 +/- 4.9% of the mean total area of the pancreatic islet. As many as 8.5 +/- 1.3% of cells stained for somatostatin. The somatostatin-immunoreactive cell area was 4.9 +/- 0.3% of the mean pancreatic islet area. In summary, we have determined in detail for the first time the morphometry and islet composition of the European bison pancreas. The distribution patterns of immunoreactivities to the substances studied in the European bison show many similarities to those described in other ruminant species.