Reduced volume of diabetic pancreatic islets in rodents detected by synchrotron X-ray phase-contrast microtomography and deep learning network

• The pancreatic islet is a highly structured micro-organ that produces insulin in response to rising blood glucose. Here we develop a label-free and automatic imaging approach to visualize the islets in situ in diabetic rodents by the synchrotron radiation X-ray phase-contrast microtomography (SRμCT) at the ID17 station of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The large-size images (3.2 mm × 15.97 mm) were acquired in the pancreas in STZ-treated mice and diabetic GK rats. Each pancreas was dissected by 3000 reconstructed images. The image datasets were further analysed by a self-developed deep learning method, AA-Net. All islets in the pancreas were segmented and visualized by the three-dimension (3D) reconstruction. After quantifying the volumes of the islets, we found that the number of larger islets (=>1500 μm3) was reduced by 2-fold (wt 1004 ± 94 vs GK 419 ± 122, P < 0.001) in chronically developed diabetic GK rat, while in STZ-treated diabetic mouse the large islets were decreased by half (189 ± 33 vs 90 ± 29, P < 0.001) compared to the untreated mice. Our study provides a label-free tool for detecting and quantifying pancreatic islets in situ. It implies the possibility of monitoring the state of pancreatic islets in vivo diabetes without labelling.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Endokrinologi och diabetes (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Endocrinology and Diabetes (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Deep learning

Diabetes

Pancreatic islets

Synchrotron radiation

X-ray microtomography

X-ray phase-contrast

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