Laser Doppler: A Tool for Measuring Pancreatic Islet Microvascular Vasomotion in Vivo

As a functional status of microcirculation, microvascular vasomotion is important for the delivery of oxygen and nutrients and the removal of carbon dioxide and waste products. The impairment of microvascular vasomotion might be a crucial step in the development of microcirculation-related diseases. In addition, the highly vascularized pancreatic islet is adapted to support endocrine function. In this respect, it seems possible to infer that the functional status of pancreatic islet microvascular vasomotion might affect pancreatic islet function. Analyzing the pathological changes of the functional status of pancreatic islet microvascular vasomotion may be a feasible strategy to determine contributions that pancreatic islet microcirculation makes to related diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, pancreatitis, etc. Therefore, this protocol describes using a laser Doppler blood flow monitor to determine the functional status of pancreatic islet microvascular vasomotion, and to establish parameters (including average blood perfusion, amplitude, frequency, and relative velocity of pancreatic islet microvascular vasomotion) for evaluation of the microcirculatory functional status. In a streptozotocin-induced diabetic mouse model, we observed an impaired functional status of pancreatic islet microvascular vasomotion. In conclusion, this approach for assessing pancreatic islet microvascular vasomotion in vivo may reveal mechanisms relating to pancreatic islet diseases.