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pancreas Definition

pan·creas (pan′krē əs, paŋ′-)

noun

a large, elongated gland situated behind the stomach and secreting a digestive juice (pancreatic juice) into the small intestine: groups of differentiated cells (islets of Langerhans) in the gland produce the hormone insulin: the pancreas of animals, used as food, is usually called sweetbread

Etymology: ModL < Gr pankreas < pan, all (see pan-) + kreas, flesh (see crude)

pancreas Related Forms

pan′·cre·at′·ic (--at′ik) adjective

pancreas Usage Examples

Converse of subject

  • secrete: Insulin is secreted by the pancreas in response to carbohydrate being eaten.
  • produce: Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, is needed to convert glucose into the energy the body requires.

Converse of object

  • stimulate: Sugar stimulates the pancreas to release insulin, which in turn causes extra calcium to be excreted in the urine.
  • remove: They removed the pancreas from dogs which then developed diabetes.
  • affect: This is because the CF affects the pancreas, which makes it hard for people with CF to digest food.
  • damage: The problem is retrieving enough healthy islets from the already quite damaged pancreas.
  • include: Several structural and gene expression changes have been shown in many tissues, including pancreas, liver, kidney, muscle and adipose tissue.

Adjective modifier

  • exocrine: Survivors of outbreaks can exhibit fibrous replacement of the exocrine pancreas.
  • normal: Below is a photograph of a normal pancreas exposed during surgery of the abdomen.
  • human: Whereas high-level expression of the gene encoding CFTR has been demonstrated in the human pancreas ( Ref.
  • whole: A few patients have received islet transplants, but the islets work better and for longer when a whole pancreas is transplanted.
  • bovine: Aprotinin is a protease inhibitor normally prepared from bovine pancreas and lung.
  • artificial: The artificial pancreas will measure blood sugar levels on a minute-by-minute basis with a continuous glucose monitor.

Modifies a noun

  • transplantation: The sheet presents information about pancreas transplantation, which may be something you would like to consider.
  • transplant: In 2000, I received a new kidney, and later had a pancreas transplant.
  • gland: Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas gland in the abdomen.
  • cancer: Darren James Darren's wife lost her father to pancreas cancer last year.
  • cell: Microarray analysis of pancreatic tissues was also used to identify genes from pancreas cells.

Noun used with modifier

  • donor: At the moment our protocol involves using cells from two donor pancreases.
  • pig: Pig skin is used to treat burns, and insulin usually comes from cow or pig pancreas.