The endocrine pancreas in the adult gray short-tailed opossum, Monodelphisdomestica (Marsupialia)

摘要

Monodelphis domestica, a South American marsupial proposed as a laboratory animal, presents some characteristics: that art: favourable for research on the development of pancreatic tissue. Therefore, it is important to know if Monodelphis domestic is similar to other mammals concerning the cellular composition of the pancreas and if the different regions of the organ share similar morphologic features. In the present study the pancreas of ten adult male or female Monodelphis domestica were examined: serial paraffin sections were stained immunohistochemically using polyclonal antibodies against insulin or glucagon. The size of the immunoreactive area was measured with a computer-based image-analysing system differentiating lobus dexter, corpus pancreatis, and lobus sinister.