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Article: Pancreas
- Article from:
- Biology
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Pancreas
The pancreas is a soft oblong organ located in the upper central region of the abdominal cavity, just behind the lower surface of the stomach. It has three portions: an expanded medial portion called the head, a central portion called the body, and a tapering
lateral
portion called the tail. The head is partially encircled by the C-shaped duodenum, the first portion of
the small intestine. The pancreas is both an
exocrine gland
and an
endocrine
gland.
The exocrine portion of the pancreas consists of acinar cells (which account for about 99 percent of all secretory cells in the pancreas) that are organized into numerous small clusters called acini. The acinar cells ...