Endocrine Function of the Surgically Reduced Pancreas

The pancreas reduced to 4 or 10 gm. weeks or months previously by partial resection, is able to maintain a normal glycemic level in dogs of about 10 kilos in good condition. When the pancreas is reduced to 4 gm. the capacity for secreting insulin under certain conditions of strain is diminished whereas a pancreas reduced to 10 gm. may have a normal or decreased capacity. This decreased functional capacity is shown: (1) by a longer hyperglycemic curve after the intravenous injection of 1 gm. of glucose per kilo; (2) by the requirement of smaller doses of extract of anterior hypophysis to produce diabetes; and (3) by the longer time required to correct the diabetic hyperglycemia if reduced pancreas is grafted in the neck of pancreatectomized animals. The time to recover is in inverse ratio to the weight of the transplanted pancreatic tissue.