Immunohistochemical study of the pancreatic endocrine cells of the ray, Dasyatis akajei.

The pancreatic endocrine cells of the ray, Dasyatis akajei was studied by aldehyde-fuchsin-Masson-Goldner's staining and by immunohistochemical methods. The pancreatic endocrine cells of the ray do not form islets by represent the most primitive distribution among elasmobranchs, occupying the outer layer of the double-layered duct epithelium of the pancreas. The endocrine cells showed no evidence of reaching the duct lumen, i. e., they are closed in type. By the use of immunohistochemical techniques, insulin-, glucagon-, somatostatin-and pancreatic polypeptide (PP)-like immunoreactivities were detected in the endocrine cells. The PP-positive cells could not be differentiated from the somatostatin-immunoreactive cells, although the former were smaller in number. The possible reasons for this result were discussed. The present finding supports the view that those four peptides are essential regulatory substances of the endocrine system of the pancreas at a fairy early stage of vertebrate evolution.