Journal de cytologie et d'histologie

Changes in Pancreatic Islet Mass in Grey Mouse Lemurs (Microcebus murinus) Submitted to Caloric Restriction or Resveratrol Administration

Abstract

Hurion M, Château-Joubert S, Servely JL, Pifferi F, Boyer C, Perret M, Djelti F, Aujard F and Cordonnier N

Caloric restriction and resveratrol intake have beneficial effects on health, especially in the prevention and improvement of diabetes. Based on this evidence, this study has been conducted in order to examine the normal architecture of pancreatic islets and the long term effects on endocrine pancreas of standard diet, caloric restriction, or resveratrol in 19 adult grey mouse lemurs. Immunohistochemistry, with anti-insulin and anti-glucagon antibodies, and morphometric analysis were performed. The normal pancreatic islet was composed of an outer circle of α cells and a large inner body of β cells, the percentages of each cell types being 10.3 ± 3.3% and 69.7 ± 1.8%, respectively. A marked increase of the pancreatic islet mass was detected in 6 animals: 2 animals under standard diet,1 animal under calorie restricted diet, and 3 animals under standard diet supplemented with resveratrol. This lesion consisted mainly of an increase of β-cell mass in 4/6 animals, and seemed to appear in middle-aged adult primates (5.8 ± 0.8 years old). To our knowledge, there are no other studies which aim at describing the changes of the pancreatic islet mass in grey mouse lemurs.