islets of Langerhans
1
7.2
- noun
- /ˈaɪlɪts əv ˈlæŋɡərhænz/
- Specialized
- TF was produced and secreted by the endocrine cells of the islets of Langerhans in the islet preparations.
- islets of Langerhans in the pancreas
Examples
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Just before six months, they'd do a hysterectomy/abortion, dissect out the pancreas, and transplant the tiny islets of Langerhans into Evan, curing his diabetes.
Fiction book (1997) -
GABA tells the pancreas to make more insulin and to grow more islets of Langerhans (spelling?).
Blog text (30) -
At the moment, the reason why a pancreas transplant is done is because it contains islets of Langerhans that provide insulin for us.
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Most, but not all, of the endocrine cells of the human islets of Langerhans were stained.
Academic text (2002) -
In the pancreas, the insulin antibody was detected only in the cytoplasm of the cells in the islets of Langerhans (see Additional file 1).
Blog text (26) -
Later experimenters narrowed this search to the islets of Langerhans (a fancy name for clusters of specialized cells in the pancreas).
Blog text (21) -
The islets of Langerhans play a crucial role in regulating blood sugar levels by producing insulin.
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Doctors study the islets of Langerhans to understand how insulin secretion affects diabetes management.
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Each cluster of cells known as the islets of Langerhans is vital for the body's hormonal balance.
Synonyms
1
7.4
Groups of cells in the pancreas that make insulin to control blood sugar
Groups of special cells in the pancreas make insulin and other hormones to control blood sugar
Surface Forms
Morphology
islets + of + Langerhans
This is a specialized anatomical term: knowing 'islet' as a small island/cluster and 'Langerhans' as a proper name does not allow a B1 learner to infer 'groups of pancreatic cells that produce insulin.' The phrase is a technical, lexicalized biomedical label whose meaning is domain-specific rather than compositionally derived from its parts, so it is not predictable from the constituents.
Etymology
Islets of Langerhans: The name islets of Langerhans compares small groups of cells to tiny islets, or little 'islands', and uses the scientist's name Langerhans because he first found them. These little 'islands' in the pancreas make 'insulin' and other 'hormones', so the name helps you remember they are separate cell groups that control blood sugar.