The pancreatic islet is a highly vascularized endocrine mini-organ that depends on blood supply to function efficiently. As blood flows through islet capillaries reaching different endocrine cell types, it significantly impacts nutrient sensing, paracrine communication, and the final hormonal output. Thus, any change in blood flow, either induced physiologically (e.g., nervous input) or as a result of pathological changes (e.g., fibrosis), could affect islet function. It is not a stretch to state that the way the islet vasculature is arranged anatomically and regulated functionally must have consequences for glucose homeostasis.
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