I n order to determine whether microvascular blood flow is important in the regulation of intra-islet cellular interactions, rat pancreata were isolated and perfused in vitro, both anterogradely or retrogradely, with and without anti-insulin or anti-somatostatin gamma-globulin. Expressed as percent change, anterograde infusion of insulin antibody increased efflux concentrations of glucagon (110 +/- 20%, P less than 0.0005) and somatostatin (2,112 +/- 73%, P less than 0.0005) above their respective control. Retrograde infusion of insulin antibody did not affect efflux concentrations of glucagon (P less than 0.50) or somatostatin (P less than 0.50). The anterograde infusion of anti-somatostatin antibody had no effect upon insulin (P less than 0.50) or glucagon (P less than 0.50) efflux concentrations, whereas retrograde anti-somatostatin antibody infusion produced immediate increases in efflux concentrations of both insulin (115 +/- 33%, P less than 0.0005) and glucagon (77 +/- 8%, P less than 0.0005). These results strongly suggest that (a) the vascular compartment is important in the regulation of intra-islet cellular interactions and further suggest that (b) the order of islet cellular perfusion and interaction is from the B cell core outward to the mantle, and (c) the mantle is further subordered with the majority of D cells downstream or distal to the majority of A cells. Thus, in the vascular compartment, B cells inhibit A-cell secretion and A cells stimulate D-cell secretion.