Biology · Ch 14 — Human Nutrition
Pancreas
Pancreas
The pancreas is a leaf-shaped heterocrine gland — meaning it has both exocrine and endocrine tissue in a single organ — lying in the bend of the duodenum, beneath the stomach.
Its exocrine part is made of clusters of cells called acini. The acinar cells secrete an alkaline pancreatic juice containing various digestive enzymes. This juice drains through the pancreatic duct, which joins the common bile duct to form the hepato-pancreatic duct; this duct opens into the duodenum through an opening guarded by the sphincter of Oddi. …
What this figure shows. A microscopic section of pancreatic tissue showing clusters of acinar cells (each cluster forming an acinus) draining into interlobular ducts that converge on a central duct, with a capillary network running between the clusters; embedded among the acini is a rounded islet of Langerhans, within which alpha, beta and delta cells are sepa …