Immunohistochemical and electron-microscopic observation of beta-cells in pancreatic islets of spontaneously diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rats.

The Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat offers a genetic model of type 2 diabetes and displays profoundly defective insulin secretion leading to basal hyperglycemia. This animal is widely used for studying type 2 diabetes. However, the morphological characteristics of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans in GK rats are not fully understood.