351-OR: Two Different Ways to Replace Beta-Cell Mass after Partial Pancreatectomy

Treatment of diabetes in which beta cell mass is reduced is islet transplantation (IT), which replaces beta cells, and insulin therapy, which rests beta cells. Although both methods show significant results in preventing the progression of diabetes, it is controversial whether the two treatments work through the same mechanism. To evaluate this hypothesis, insulin injection or IT was performed on mice that had undergone 50% partial pancreatectomy, and the IPGTT and histological changes of the remnant pancreas were examined. In the IPGTT conducted after IT or insulin treatment after pancreatectomy for 7 days, the blood glucose profile of the IT mice was similar to that of normal, but the insulin-treated mice showed a significantly higher blood glucose level than normal. In histology of the remnant pancreas in the insulin-treated group, alpha cells increases, and the alpha/beta ratio was significantly higher than in the normal or IT group. There was no difference in islet proliferation or apoptosis in the insulin-treated group, but PDX-1 expression was significantly higher in alpha cells of the insulin-treated group. In conclusion, insulin or IT as a treatment method to replace beta cells is known in a similar way. But, IT is a more physiological method than insulin treatment, and it needs to be worked more detail whether notable increases of alpha cell mass in the remnant pancreas due to insulin treatment is a short-term or a continuous change.