Sanjeev Gumber

Background Diabetes mellitus type 2 has been linked to pancreatic islet amyloid deposition in humans and nonhuman primates. The authors hypothesized that diabetic primates would have significant differences in pathology than non‐diabetic groups. Methods This retrospective study used histopathology and immunohistochemistry to characterize and compare pancreatic islet amyloidosis in 58 diabetic and non‐diabetic rhesus macaque (RM) and sooty mangabeys (SM). Results The pancreatic tissues from diabetic RM and SM showed higher histopathology scores for islet amyloid deposit distribution, severity, and calcification deposits compared to their respective non‐diabetic cohorts. Further, these tissues from RM and SM with amyloid deposits showed immunoreactivity to insulin, glucagon, islet amyloid polypeptide, serum amyloid P, and glucagon‐like peptide 1. Conclusions Histopathology results showed that the defined amyloid characteristics are associated with clinical diabetes in both species. The immunohistochemistry results collectively suggest differences in pancreatic hormones and islet amyloid components among both species and diabetic status.