ArticleDiabetologia2018
Human pancreatic neuro-insular network in health and fatty infiltration.
Article in Diabetologia, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
62 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 96 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of Intra-pancreatic Fat Deposition and Pancreatic Carcinogenesis.Journal of gastrointestinal surgery : official journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract · 2020Pooled it
- Explainable AI-based analysis of human pancreas sections identifies traits of type 2 diabetes.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Decoding Pancreatic Cancer Pain: From Tumor-Nerve Crosstalk to Targeted Analgesic Strategies.International journal of medical sciences · 2026Review
- Human liver and pancreas innervation: resolving 3D neurohistological challenges and advancing insights.Journal of biomedical science · 2025Review
- Electroacupuncture at ST25 mediated glial cells pruning of pancreatic TRPV1 neural synapse responds to neuropathy-associated beta cell dysfunction.Chinese medicine · 2025Article
- Neurophysiological mechanisms of electroacupuncture in regulating pancreatic function and adipose tissue expansion.World journal of diabetes · 2025Article
- Article
- Neuroimmune Interactions in Pancreatic Cancer.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Vagal sensory neuron-derived FGF3 controls insulin secretion.Developmental cell · 2025Article
- Parkinson's disease and metabolic disorders, understanding their shared co-morbidity through the autonomic nervous system.Advances in genetics · 2025Review
- Nicotinic Signaling Stimulates Glucagon Secretion in Mouse and Human Pancreatic α-Cells.Diabetes · 2025Article
- Vagal Splenic-Dependent Effects Influence Glucose Homeostasis, Insulin Secretion, and Histopathology of the Endocrine Pancreas in Hypothalamic Obese Male Rats: Vagus Nerve and Spleen Interactions Affect the Endocrine Pancreas.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2025Article
- Brain Defense of Glycemia in Health and Diabetes.Diabetes · 2024Review
- A mechanism for slow rhythms in coordinated pancreatic islet activity.Biophysical journal · 2024Article
- Optogenetic control of β cell function.Nature biomedical engineering · 2024Article
- Optogenetic stimulation of vagal nerves for enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and β cell proliferation.Nature biomedical engineering · 2024Article
- Neuropancreatology: The Nervous System and Pain Management in Pancreatic Diseases.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Inter-organ communication involved in metabolic regulation at the whole-body level.Inflammation and regeneration · 2023Review
- Ectopic and visceral fat deposition in aging, obesity, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: an interconnected role.Lipids in health and disease · 2023Review
- α-cell electrophysiology and the regulation of glucagon secretion.The Journal of endocrinology · 2023Review
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aims/hypothesisIdentification of a pancreatic neuro-insular network in mice suggests that a similar integration of islets and nerves may be present in the human pancreas. To characterise the neuro-insular network and the intra-pancreatic ganglia in a clinically related setting, we examined human pancreases in health and with fatty infiltration via 3-dimensional (3D) histology and compared the human pancreatic microenvironment with its counterpart in mice.
methodsHuman pancreatic specimens from individuals with normal BMI, high BMI (≥ 25) and type 2 diabetes were used to investigate the neuro-insular network. Transparent specimens were prepared by tissue clearing for transmitted light and deep-tissue fluorescence imaging to simultaneously visualise infiltrated adipocytes, islets and neurovascular networks.
resultsHigh-definition images of human islets reveal that both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves enter the islet core and reside in the immediate microenvironment of islet cells. Around the islets, the neuro-insular network is visualised with 3D histology to identify the intra-pancreatic ganglia (peri-lobular and intra-parenchymal ganglia) and the islet-ganglionic association. In humans, but not in mice, pancreatic fatty infiltration (BMI dependent) features adipocytes infiltrating into the parenchyma and accumulating in the peri-lobular space, in which the peri-lobular ganglia also reside. We identified the formation of adipose-ganglionic complexes in the peri-lobular space and enlargement of ganglia around adipocytes. In the specimen from the individual with type 2 diabetes, an increase in the number of nerve projections from the intra-parenchymal ganglia is associated with severe fatty infiltration. CONCLUSIONS/
interpretationWe present new perspectives of human pancreas and islet innervation via 3D histology. Our results strongly suggest that fatty infiltration in the human pancreas creates a neurotrophic microenvironment and promotes remodelling of pancreatic innervation.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.