Problems of Non-Invasive Visualization of Pancreatic Beta-Cells
Currently, to diagnose the onset of diabetes mellitus, estimate disease progression and treatment efficacy, only indirect methods are available (testing for blood glucose, oral glucose tolerance, glycated hemoglobin, C-peptide). Those methods are useful in the assessment of functional capacity of beta-cells instead of their mass. Potentially, methods of non-invasive visualization may play an important role in measuring beta-cells mass and distribution, diagnosing characteristic microvascular changes due to insulitis and evaluating efficacy of transplantation of pancreatic islets. Using of these methods may promote understanding of the patogenesis of diabetes and finding solutions for islet cells restoration. The review discusses existing methods of non-invasive visualization of pancreatic beta-cells and key barriers to their implementation into clinical practice.