Human pancreatic capillaries and nerve fibers persist in type 1 diabetes despite beta cell loss
Tiffany M. Richardson, Diane C. Saunders, Rachana Haliyur, Shristi Shrestha, Jean‐Philippe Cartailler, Rachel B. Reinert, Jenna R. Petronglo, Rita Bottino, Radhika Aramandla, Amber Bradley, Regina Jenkins, Sharon Phillips, Hakmook Kang, Human Pancreas Analysis Program, Alejandro Caicedo, Alvin C. Powers, Marcela Briššová
Abstract
Defining the neurovascular architecture in the pancreas of individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) is crucial to understanding the mechanisms of dysregulated glucagon secretion. In the largest T1D cohort of biobanked tissues analyzed to date, we found that pancreatic capillaries and nerve fibers persist in human T1D despite beta cell loss, suggesting that alpha cell secretory changes may be decoupled from neurovascular components. Because innervation has been studied extensively in rodent T1D models, our studies also provide the first rigorous direct comparisons of neurovascular assembly in mouse and human, indicating dramatic interspecies differences.