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Analysis of major digestive enzymes expression in human pancreas

Type I diabetes is characterized by significant loss of beta cells and decrease in pancreatic weight. It is widely accepted that decline of pancreatic weight is attributed to acinar atrophy which in turn could lead to pancreatic exocrine insufficiency frequently found in diabetic patients. However, the fact that the exocrine pancreas is affected in patients with T1D diabetes has often been overlooked. Thus, as a basis for a better understanding of pancreatic exocrine function, we propose to investigate the expression pattern of major digestive enzymes in the pancreas of nondiabetic, autoantibody positive without diabetes and T1 diabetes nPOD donors. This will be achieved by multiplex immunohistochemical staining for amylase, lipase and trypsinogen (amongst others) and by employing fresh tissue slicing technique to obtain functional readouts of pancreatic endocrine and exocrine cell function.

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