[Appearance and localization of pancreatic polypeptide (PP) containing cells in the pancreas of human fetuses (author's transl)]

Abstract

PP-cells were detected by using an anti-bovine PP (BPP) serum (a gift ot Dr. R. E. Chance, Eli Lilly Laboratories, Indianapolis) in the pancreas of the normal and anencephalic human fetuses, and decreased premature infants. The first PP-cells were observed as early as 10 weeks of gestation. The PP-cells were located in the periphery of the islets. The islets containing PP-cells were essentially located in the lower part of the head of the pancreas, whereas glucagon-cells are located in the other regions of the pancreas. Somatostatin- and insulin-cells were uniformly distributed in the pancreas. The PP-cells seemed to be related to the ventral bud of the pancreas.