Immunohistochemical distribution of insulin-, glucagon- and somatostatin-containing cells in the pancreas of Lake Van fish (Alburnus tarichi Güldenstädt, 1814) (Cyprinidae)

The Lake Van fish (Alburnus tarichi) is a species that is endemic to Turkey’s Lake Van basin. In this study, the regional distribution, volume density, and relative frequency of some pancreatic endocrine cells in Lake Van fish were investigated via immunohistochemistry using specific mammalian antibodies. The pancreatic tissue was observed to be surrounded by adipose tissue, which was adjacent to the gall bladder or extrahepatic bile duct, or dispersed in the adipose tissue ranked among coils of post-esophageal swelling and intestine. The pancreatic endocrine cells were examined, including the islets, exocrine pancreas, and pancreatic ducts. According to the modified aldehyde fuchsin staining and immunohistochemistry, insulin-secreting beta cells were observed to localize throughout the islets. Glucagon immune-reactive (IR) cells were observed to be situated moderately on the islet periphery, and were rarely determined in the islet central region. A small number of somatostatin-IR cells were observed in the islet centers and peripheries. Similar distributions of those 3 endocrine cells were also determined in the secondary islets. Additionally, the endocrine cell percentages did not differ between the primary and secondary islets; insulin-, glucagon- and somatostatin-IR cells comprised approximately 54%, 29%, and 11% of the endocrine cells in the principal islets, whereas they comprised 52%, 27%, and 14% in the secondary islets, respectively. Insulin-, glucagon- and somatostatin-IR cells were also determined among the epithelium and subepithelial connective tissue in the pancreatic ducts or exocrine areas of the pancreas. With this study, the existence, regional distribution, and relative frequency of the insulin-, glucagon- and somatostatin-IR cells were first investigated in the pancreatic tissue of Lake Van fish and the results were discussed.