The effect of cellophane wrapping of the pancreas in the Syrian golden hamster: autoradiographic observations

We examined the effects of cellophane wrapping of the pancreas on the age-related uptake of tritiated thymidine (3H-TdR) by the differentiated cell types of the pancreas of the Syrian golden hamster. Fifty-two hamsters were studied. At 7 weeks of age, hamsters underwent cellophane wrapping (n = 32) or were allocated to a control group (n = 20). Animals 8-22 weeks of age (four at each interval) received 3H-TdR (2 microCi/g) intraperitoneally and were killed 1 h later. Pancreatic tissues from each animal was processed for autoradiography. The percent of acinar cells labeled with 3H-TdR at 8 weeks, in control and wrapped animals, was 1.17 +/- 0.26 and 1.51 +/- 0.38 respectively (p = N.S.). In control animals, this steadily diminished to 0.02 +/- 0.00 at 22 weeks. In wrapped animals, there was less of a tendency for acinar cell labeling to decrease with age, and the percent of labeled acinar cells in wrapped animals at 22 weeks was 0.05 +/- 0.00. The percent of ductular cells labeled with 3H-TdR at 8 weeks in control and wrapped animals was 0.24 +/- 0.24 and 0.98 +/- 0.24, respectively (p = N.S.), and at 22 weeks was 0.13 +/- 0.90 and 0.60 +/- 0.03, respectively (p less than 0.01). The percent of islet cells labeled with 3H-TdR at 8 weeks in control and wrapped animals was 0.16 +/- 0.01 and 0.42 +/- 0.01, respectively (p less than 0.05), and at 22 weeks was 0.18 +/- 0.01 and 0.63 +/- 0.05 (p less than 0.05), respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)