Pancreatic islets | |
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![]() A pancreatic islet from a mouse in a typical position, close to a blood vessel; insulin in red, nuclei in blue. | |
Details | |
Part of | Pancreas |
System | Endocrine |
Identifiers | |
Latin | insulae pancreaticae |
MeSH | D007515 |
TA98 | A05.9.01.019 |
TA2 | 3128 |
FMA | 16016 |
Anatomical terms of microanatomy |
The pancreatic islets or islets of Langerhans are the regions of the pancreas that contain its endocrine (hormone-producing) cells, discovered in 1869 by German pathological anatomist Paul Langerhans.[1] The pancreatic islets constitute 1–2% of the pancreas volume and receive 10–15% of its blood flow.[2][3] The pancreatic islets are arranged in density routes throughout the human pancreas, and are important in the metabolism of glucose.[4]