Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The pancreas is an organ of the digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a gland. The pancreas is a mixed or heterocrine gland, i.e., it has both an endocrine and a digestive exocrine function. [2] 99% of the pancreas is exocrine and 1% is endocrine.
There are about 1 million islets distributed throughout the pancreas of a healthy adult human. While islets vary in size, the average diameter is about 0.2 mm. [5]:928 Each islet is separated from the surrounding pancreatic tissue by a thin, fibrous, connective tissue capsule which is continuous with the fibrous connective tissue that is interwoven throughout the rest of the pancreas.
There are several organs and other components involved in the digestion of food. The organs known as the accessory digestive organs are the liver, gall bladder and pancreas. Other components include the mouth, salivary glands, tongue, teeth and epiglottis. The largest structure of the digestive system is the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract).
Sometimes the pancreas fails to develop normally and there may be congenital defects associated with the uncinate process. The uncinate process may split and encircle the duodenum, which is known as an annular pancreas. [3] There is also a common condition called pancreas divisum where the dorsal and ventral pancreas do not fuse properly.
The pancreatic duct or duct of Wirsung (also, the major pancreatic duct due to the existence of an accessory pancreatic duct) is a duct joining the pancreas to the common bile duct. This supplies it with pancreatic juice from the exocrine pancreas, which aids in digestion.
Ductal cells comprise about 10% of the pancreas by number and about 4% in volume. Its function is to secrete bicarbonate and mucins and to form the tubule network that transfers enzymes made by acinar cells to the duodenum. Ductal cells have a proliferation rate of about 0.5% in normal adults, but mitotic activity goes up when the pancreas is ...
The pancreas serves multiple roles within mammalian organisms. It plays a role in the digestive system and the endocrine system making it an organ and a very important gland. [2] PP cells tend to located in the pancreatic islets, and are one of the rarer pancreatic cell types. [1] Some small clusters may also be found surrounded by exocrine ...
Research has shown that beta cells can be differentiated from human pancreas progenitor cells. [37] These differentiated beta cells, however, often lack much of the structure and markers that beta cells need to perform their necessary functions. [37]