Figure 1

Taurine induces an increase in the number of islets in the pancreas. All mice were 2 months old. Taurine (0.05%) was supplemented in the drinking water. WT, n=3; KO, n=4; WT-Tau, n=3; KO-Tau, n=3. Pancreata were cryosectioned (30 µm) and stained with hematoxylin and Eosin. Each pancreas yielded approximately 150 sections. All pancreata were cut in the longitudinal plane. WT-tau had the largest number of islets per section. KO had significantly less islets than controls and treatment with taurine caused a significant increase in the number of islets. Insert shows an islet from control (left) and taurine-fed WT mouse stained with propidium iodide