Delta‐Cell Area is Unchanged in Human Pregnancy: Evidence From Immunohistochemistry

Journal article

Aim: Pancreatic islet δ‐cells produce somatostatin, a paracrine regulator of insulin and glucagon secretion within islets. Although adaptive changes in α‐ and β‐cell populations during pregnancy have been described in both animals and humans, data on δ‐cell plasticity are sparse and entirely lacking in human pregnancy. We aimed to determine whether pancreatic islet δ‐cell mass undergoes morphological adaptation during human pregnancy. Methods and results: Formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded pancreatic tissue from pregnant (n = 7) and non‐pregnant (n = 7) donors was analysed. Sections were immunolabelled for somatostatin to identify δ cells, and whole‐slide quantitative analysis was performed using an unbiased automated imaging pipeline. δ‐cell area was measured across the entire pancreatic sections and compared between groups. In contrast to previously reported expansion of α‐ and β‐cell populations in pregnancy, δ‐cell area was not significantly different between pregnant and non‐pregnant donors. No quantitative architectural alterations in δ‐cell distribution within islets were observed. Conclusion: Pancreatic δ‐cell area does not increase during human pregnancy. These findings demonstrate that endocrine cell plasticity within the maternal pancreas is selective and does not uniformly involve all islet cell subtypes.

Authors: Seedat, F; Kandzija, N; Drydale, E; Holden, K; Bancroft, J

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: Biology of the Cell
• Volume: 118
• Issue: 5
• Article number: e70067
• Publication date: 2026-05-06
• Acceptance date: 2026-04-21
• DOI: 10.1111/boc.70067
• EISSN: 1768-322X
• ISSN: 0248-4900
• Language: English
• Keywords: gestational diabetes; pregnancy; human islets; somatostatin; delta cells; pancreatic islet