Pancreas

Location of the pancreas

The pancreas is an organ that makes hormones and enzymes to help digestion. The pancreas helps break down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The pancreas is behind the stomach and is on the left side of the human body.

The part of the pancreas that makes hormones is called the Islets of Langerhans. The Islets of Langerhans are a small part (2%) of the total cells in the pancreas. The Islets of Langerhans change which chemical they make depending on how much of other chemicals are already in the blood. So, the pancreas works to keep the level of chemicals in balance in the body. If the Islets of Langerhans stop working, a person will suffer from a disease called diabetes. Doctors are experimenting with taking the Islets of Langerhans cells from a donor body and putting them into the pancreas of a person with diabetes to make that person well.

The pancreas belongs to two systems of the body: the digestive system for its role in breaking down nutrients, and the endocrine system for producing hormones.

Hormones

The pancreas releases these hormones:

• Insulin (which decreases the amount of glucose or sugar in the blood)
• Glucagon (which increases the amount of glucose in the blood)
• Somatostatin (which reduces production of insulin and glucagon)

Digestive enzymes

The pancreas releases many different enzymes to help digestion:

• Lipase (which breaks down fats)
• Amylase (which breaks down carbohydrates)
• Trypsinogen and Chymotrypsin (which break down proteins)
• Erepsin, which digests peptones into amino acids.

Pancreas Media

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  The pancreas (shown here in pink) sits behind the stomach, with the body near the curvature of the duodenum, and the tail stretching to touch the spleen.

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  This image shows a pancreatic islet when pancreatic tissue is stained and viewed under a microscope. Parts of the digestive ("exocrine") pancreas can be seen around the islet, more darkly. These contain hazy dark purple granules of inactive digestive enzymes (zymogens).

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  The pancreas originates from the foregut, a precursor tube to part of the digestive tract, as a dorsal and ventral bud. As it develops, the ventral bud rotates to the other side and the two buds fuse together.

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  The pancreas maintains constant blood glucose levels (shown as the waving line). When the blood glucose level is too high, the pancreas secretes insulin and when the level is too low, the pancreas secretes glucagon.

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  The pancreas has a role in digestion, highlighted here. Ducts in the pancreas (green) conduct digestive enzymes into the duodenum. This image also shows a pancreatic islet, part of the endocrine pancreas, which contains cells responsible for secretion of insulin and glucagon.

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  Pancreatic cancer, shown here, most commonly occurs as an adenocarcinoma in the head of the pancreas. Because symptoms (such as skin yellowing, pain, or itch) do not occur until later in the disease, it often presents at a later stage and has limited treatment options.

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  Relative incidences of various pancreatic neoplasms, with pancreatic cancers in red/pink color.

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  A normal pancreas on ultrasound.

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  Identifying pancreas on abdominal ultrasonography when it is partly obscured by bowel gas.

Other websites

• Pancreatic Cancer Info Archived 2018-03-07 at the Wayback Machine