Figure 3.

Reduced β‐cell volume density in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). (a) A specific reduction of β‐cell volume density and β‐cell mass was detected in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes (lean) by morphometric analysis reported in 200231. There was no significant decrease in islet volume density, but β‐cell volume density and β‐cell mass were significantly reduced by 30% and 35%, respectively, in patients with type 2 diabetes compared with those in non‐diabetic (ND) subjects. (b) Reduced β‐cell volume density shown in Korean patients with type 2 diabetes reported in 200339, showing an approximately 40% decrease, similar to that in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes, compared with non‐diabetic autopsy cases (control 1, □) or surgical cases (control 2, ○). (c) In the same year, the data of USA patients with type 2 diabetes were reported from University of California, Los Angeles, showing the reduction of β‐cell volume density39. In this report, both the obese type and lean type of USA patients with type 2 diabetes showed about 60% and 40% reduction of β‐cell volume density, respectively, compared with their respective weight‐matched non‐diabetic control subjects. Furthermore, they also found a significant reduction of β‐cell volume density in subjects with impaired fasting glucose (IFG). In addition, there was a significantly greater value of β‐cell volume density in non‐diabetic obese subjects compared with non‐diabetic lean subjects, indicating compensatory β‐cell hyperplasia in non‐diabetic obese subjects. C, control.