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Miniglucagon, the COOH-terminal (19-29) fragment processed from glucagon, is a potent and efficient inhibitor of insulin secretion from the MIN 6 beta-cell line. Using the rat isolated-perfused pancreas, we investigated the inhibitory effect of miniglucagon on insulin secretion and evaluated the existence of an inhibitory tone exerted by this peptide inside the islet. Miniglucagon dose-dependently inhibited insulin secretion stimulated by 8.3 mol/l glucose, with no change in the perfusion flow rate. A concentration of 1 nmol/l miniglucagon had a significant inhibitory effect on a 1 nmol/l glucagon-like peptide 1 (7-36) amide-potentiated insulin secretion. A decrease in extracellular glucose concentration simultaneously stimulated glucagon and miniglucagon secretion from pancreatic alpha-cells. Using confocal and electron microscopy analysis, we observed that miniglucagon is colocalized with glucagon in mature secretory granules of alpha-cells. Perfusion of an anti-miniglucagon antiserum directed against the biologically active moiety of the peptide resulted in a more pronounced effect of a glucose challenge on insulin secretion, indicating that miniglucagon exerts a local inhibitory tone on beta-cells. We concluded that miniglucagon is a novel local regulator of the pancreatic islet physiology and that any abnormal inhibitory tone exerted by this peptide on the beta-cell would result in an impaired insulin secretion, as observed in type 2 diabetes.

Evidence is presented showing that a neuronal isoform of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is expressed in rat pancreatic islets and INS-1 cells. Sequencing of the coding region indicated a 99.8% homology with rat neuronal NOS (nNOS) with four mutations, three of them resulting in modifications of the amino acid sequence. Double-immunofluorescence studies demonstrated the presence of nNOS in insulin-secreting beta-cells. Electron microscopy studies showed that nNOS was mainly localized in insulin secretory granules and to a lesser extent in the mitochondria and the nucleus. We also studied the mechanism involved in the dysfunction of the beta-cell response to arginine and glucose after nNOS blockade with N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester. Our data show that miconazole, an inhibitor of nNOS cytochrome c reductase activity, either alone for the experiments with arginine or combined with sodium nitroprusside for glucose, is able to restore normal secretory patterns in response to the two secretagogues. Furthermore, these results were corroborated by the demonstration of a direct enzyme-substrate interaction between nNOS and cytochrome c, which is strongly reinforced in the presence of the NOS inhibitor. Thus, we provide immunochemical and pharmacological evidence that beta-cell nNOS exerts, like brain nNOS, two catalytic activities: a nitric oxide production and an NOS nonoxidating reductase activity, both of which are essential for normal beta-cell function. In conclusion, we suggest that an imbalance between these activities might be implicated in beta-cell dysregulation involved in certain pathological hyperinsulinic states.

The effect of the antidiabetic agent vanadyl sulphate (VOSO4) on the endocrine pancreas function of normal rats was studied using the isolated pancreas preparation. A short-term (8 days) i.p. treatment (15 mg/kg per day) resulted in attenuation of high glucose-stimulated insulin release, at day 9 but also at days 19, i.e., after full recovery of appetite and weight, while blood and pancreas vanadium concentrations were still elevated. Six months of oral VOSO4 treatment (0.75 mg/ml in drinking water) resulted in elevated vanadium concentrations while glucose-stimulated insulin release was attenuated as compared to pair-fed animals. Conversely, when directly perfused in pancreas, VOSO4 potentiated glucose-stimulated insulin release. These apparently opposite effects may be related to the ability of VOSO4 to exert both peripheral insulinomimetic effects-leading to chronic reduction in insulin demand-, and a direct pancreatic insulinotropic activity.

1. We studied a possible interplay of pancreatic NO synthase activity on insulin secretion induced by different beta cell secretagogues and also on pancreatic vascular bed resistance. 2. This study was performed in the isolated perfused pancreas of the rat. Blockage of NO synthase was achieved with Nw-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME); The specificity of the antagonist was checked by using its D-enantiomer as well as by substitutive treatments with sodium nitroprusside (SNP) as a NO donor in studies of glucose-induced insulin secretion. 3. Arginine (5 mM) induced a monophasic response which was, in the presence of L-NAME at equimolar concentration, very strongly potentiated and converted into a 13 times higher biphasic one. D-NAME (5 mM) was only able to induce a 3 times higher response, but provoked a similar vasoconstrictor effect. 4. The small biphasic insulin secretion induced by L-leucine (5 mM) was also strongly enhanced, by 8 times, in the presence of L-NAME (5 mM) vs 2 times in the presence of D-NAME (5 mM). 5. beta cell responses to KCl (5 mM) and tolbutamide (0.185 mM) were only slight increased by L-NAME (5 mM) to values not far from the sum of the effects of L-NAME and of the two drugs alone. D-NAME (5 mM) was totally ineffective on the actions of both secretagogues. 6. L-NAME, infused 15 min before and during a rise in glucose concentration from 5 to 11 mM, was able in the low millimolar range (0.1-0.5 mM) to blunt the classical biphasic pattern of beta cell response to glucose and, at 5 mM, to convert it into a significantly greater monophasic one. In contrast, D-NAME (5 mM) was unable to induce similar effects. 7. SNP alone at 3 microM was ineffective but at 30 microM substantially reduced to second phase of insulin response to glucose; however, at both concentrations the NO donor partly reversed alterations in insulin secretion caused by L-NAME (5 mM) and restored a biphasic response.

n-Hexacosanol, a long-chain saturated fatty alcohol extracted from Hygrophyla erecta Hochr., has been recently shown to exert neurotrophic properties on central neurons and to stimulate phagocytosis in macrophages. The present work was designed to investigate the effects of hexacosanol on stimulated insulin secretion in vivo and in vitro. In anaesthetized rats, hexacosanol (2 mg/kg i.p.) induced a reduction of the insulin response to an intravenous glucose tolerance test (0.3 g/kg) with a consequent increase in hyperglycaemia. In vitro, in the isolated perfused pancreas, hexacosanol at the concentration of 10(-7) M clearly reduced the two phases of glucose-induced insulin secretion. At the higher concentration (10(-5) M), hexacosanol was no longer able to exert an inhibition of glucose-induced insulin release; surprisingly a stimulating effect occurred which was of the same magnitude as in control experiments with Tween alone, at the concentration used to dissolve hexacosanol. In isolated perifused islets, 22 mM glucose-stimulated insulin release was also inhibited by hexacosanol at the concentrations of 10(-9) M and 10(-7) M, but not at 10(-5) M. In contrast, insulin secretion induced by arginine (20 mM) was not affected by the different concentrations of hexacosanol. It is concluded that n-hexacosanol at 10(-9) M and 10(-7) M exerts an inhibitory effect on insulin secretion stimulated by glucose in vivo and in vitro in the rat, suggesting a direct effect on islets of Langerhans.

We studied the involvement of Bordetella pertussis toxin (PTX)-sensitive G proteins in the inhibition by adrenaline of insulin secretion from the isolated rat pancreas. The -90% inhibition induced by adrenaline (0.05 microM) was partially abolished after in vivo PTX pretreatment. The residual inhibitory effect of adrenaline in PTX-pretreated rats was suppressed by the alpha 2-adrenoceptor antagonist, yohimbine, but was not modified by the alpha 1-adrenoceptor antagonist, prazosin. Thus, the alpha 2-inhibitory effect of adrenaline on B-cells is mediated by both PTX-sensitive and PTX-insensitive mechanisms.

1. To investigate the effect of experimental diabetes on the P2y purinoceptor responses of pancreatic beta-cells and vascular bed, we used adenosine-5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) (ADP beta S), a potent and stable P2y agonist. This work was performed in the isolated perfused pancreas of the rat. 2. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (66 mg kg-1, i.p.). Five weeks after the induction of diabetes, on the day of pancreas isolation, the animals displayed marked hyperglycaemia (37.6 +/- 2.7 mM). Age-matched rats were used as controls. 3. Insulin response to a glucose stimulation from 5 to 10 mM was completely lost and stimulation of insulin release by the sulphonylurea, tolbutamide (185 microM), was drastically impaired in the diabetic pancreas (maximum responses were 1.5 +/- 0.4 and 7.0 +/- 1.4 ng min-1 for diabetic and age-matched rats respectively). 4. In contrast, in the diabetic pancreas ADP beta S (15 microM), infused in the presence of glucose 5 mM, elicited an immediate and significant insulin release similar to that observed in the age-matched pancreas (maximum responses were 7.6 +/- 1.5 and 6.7 +/- 1.3 ng min-1 respectively). This ADP beta S stimulating effect occurred independently of the glucose concentration (5, 8.3 and 28 mM) in the diabetic pancreas. On pancreatic vascular resistance, ADP beta S induced a similar vasodilatation in diabetic and age-matched rats. 5. In conclusion, ADP beta S retains its insulin stimulatory and vasodilator effects in experimental diabetes; P2y purinoceptors could therefore be considered as a new target for the development of antidiabetic drugs.

Peptide YY (PYY) has been shown to inhibit stimulated insulin secretion under in vivo conditions in the mouse, the rat, and the dog. In the present study, we investigated the effects of PYY on insulin secretion from the isolated perfused rat pancreas and isolated rat islets. In isolated pancreas perfused in presence of 8.3 mM glucose, PYY at 10(-10) and 10(-9) M, but not at 10(-8) M, inhibited insulin secretion. In the presence of 5.5 mM glucose, PYY (10(-9) M) did not modify basal insulin release but reduced the biphasic insulin response to arginine (10 mM). PYY also markedly reduced the pancreatic vascular flow rate; this effect was observed at all three concentrations tested in a dose-dependent manner. In isolated islets, glucose (15 mM)-stimulated insulin secretion was inhibited by PYY at 10(-7) M. We conclude that in the perfused rat pancreas, PYY inhibits insulin secretion and induces vasoconstriction without a causal relationship. In addition, our results on isolated islets suggest that the inhibitory action of PYY on insulin secretion is exerted through a direct islet action.

Norepinephrine is generally regarded as an inhibitor of insulin release. It has been shown, however, that under hyperglycemic circumstances, norepinephrine infused at a high dose may also stimulate insulin secretion. The goals of this study were, under normoglycemic conditions, to confirm this stimulatory effect and to determine whether a beta-adrenergic mechanism or central neural pathways were involved. Secretion of pancreatic somatostatin and glucagon were also studied. Fasted, anesthetized dogs had norepinephrine (2 micrograms X kg-1 X min-1) infused into a peripheral vein for 60 min; blood was sampled from the pancreaticoduodenal vein. Norepinephrine stimulated insulin, somatostatin, and glucagon secretion without significant changes in either blood glucose concentration or pancreaticoduodenal venous blood flow. The stimulatory effect of norepinephrine on the three hormones was abolished by propranolol pretreatment, thus implicating a beta-adrenergic mechanism. Because bilateral cervical vagotomy prevented stimulation of insulin secretion by norepinephrine, central neural pathways must have been involved in the stimulatory process. However, norepinephrine-induced glucagon secretion was not decreased by vagotomy, showing that the stimulation was due to either a direct action on the pancreatic A cell or of a central pathway not mediated via the vagus nerve. Norepinephrine-induced somatostatin secretion was partly reduced by vagotomy, indicating that several mechanisms could be implicated.

The effect of a new benzothiadiazine derivative, LN 5330, was studied on insulin release and 45Ca++ uptake by isolated rat islets of Langerhans. LN 5330 (0.1 mmol/l) significantly inhibited both insulin release and calcium uptake of islets incubated in MEM (glucose 8.3 mmol/l). This effect was comparable to that of diazoxide. The withdrawal of LN 5330 from the medium resulted in a significant increase of insulin release and calcium uptake by the islets during a subsequent incubation in MEM (glucose 8.3 mmol/l). In contrast, after withdrawal of diazoxide, insulin release and calcium uptake by the islets were not different from the controls. These results suggest a dual action of LN 5330: an effect, similar to that of diazoxide, responsible for the inhibition of insulin release in the presence of the drug; and an effect, specific to LN 5330, which would induce cellular changes, the consequence of which appears only upon withdrawal of the drug.

The effects of HB 699, a non-sulphonyl urea acyl-amino-alcyl benzoic acid derivative, were studied in unanesthetized dogs. Changes in blood glucose and plasma insulin, glucagon, pancreatic polypeptide and somatostatin were measured after a single intravenous injection. HB 699 caused hypoglycaemia and stimulated insulin secretion in a dose-dependent manner. The effects of HB 699 (40 mg/kg) on pancreatic hormone secretion were compared to those of tolbutamide give at a dose (12 mg/kg) which induced a similar maximal hypoglycaemia. Both drugs caused a similar increase in insulin release (180 +/- 32% for tolbutamide and 240 +/- 41% for HB 699) lasting for approximately 1 hour. Despite hypoglycaemia, plasma glucagon concentrations were unaltered by either substance. HB 699 caused a marked increase in the secretion of pancreatic polypeptide (220 +/- 60% at 30 min) for up to 2 hours, whereas tolbutamide caused no significant change in plasma pancreatic polypeptide levels. In contrast, while tolbutamide caused a significant (45 +/- 12%) but short-lived increase in plasma somatostatin concentrations, HB 699 had no significant effect.

Insulin and pancreatic somatostatin secretions were studied after stimulation with an arginine infusion (5 mmol/l) in isolated perfused pancreata of adult streptozotocin-diabetic rats. In the presence of 2.8 mmol/l glucose, arginine clearly stimulated insulin and somatostatin secretions in diabetic rats, whereas it was ineffective in normal rats. Thus, not only the B-cells, but also the D-cells of the pancreas from streptozotocin-diabetic rats are hypersensitive to arginine. The infusion of insulin (4 U/l) did not modify this hypersensitivity of the D-cells to arginine in pancreata of streptozotocin-diabetic rats.

To study whether glucose affects total islet Ca content, 45Ca content was measured in isolated pancreatic islets, loaded with 45Ca++, during up to 48 h in tissue culture conditions. In islets maintained in 2.8 mM or 8.3 mM glucose the 45Ca content did not increase further after the 24 h, indicating that, at this time point, islets are in isotopic equilibrium. Islets maintained in 8.3 mM glucose had a significantly higher Ca content of 9 pmol/islet than the 5 pmol of islets maintained in 2.8 mM glucose. An increase in the glucose concentration from 2.8 mM to 8.3 mM after 24 h, in the continued presence of 45Ca++, caused a significant and rapid augmentation of the Ca content (+2.5 pmol/islet/5 min). Conversely, a decrease of the glucose concentration from 8.3 mM to 2.8 mM resulted in a rapid loss of cellular Ca. Thus, glucose rapidly affects the total Ca content of islets, the turnover of Ca amounting to approximately 10% of the total content per minute. Islets maintained in 8.3 mM glucose for 24 h exhibited a greater insulin release in response to 16.7 mM glucose than islets maintained for 24 h in 2.8 mM glucose. The increased response, however, was not correlative with the difference in Ca content.

Islet culture at a low glucose concentration results in a progressive impairment of glucose-induced insulin release. The role of Ca2+ in this defect was studied by comparing rat islets cultured for 6 days either at 8.3 mM (control) or 2.8 mM glucose. For measurement of 45Ca content and 45Ca2+ efflux, islets were kept in the presence of 45Ca2+ throughout. In islets cultured at 8.3 mM glucose, stimulation with 16.7 mM glucose during perifusion caused a typical biphasic pattern of insulin release paralleled by an increase in the rate of 45Ca2+ efflux. Both effects of glucose were markedly reduced in islets kept at 2.8 mM glucose, despite a similar insulin content. Islet 45Ca content was reduced. Both 45Ca content and insulin release were restored when islets were kept for an additional 24 h at 8.3 mM glucose. Insulin release induced by 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX) or alpha-ketoisocaproic acid was not impaired, demonstrating that there is no generalized release defect. In contrast, glyceraldehyde- or K+-induced release was decreased. In islets maintained at 2.8 mM glucose, the stimulatory effect of glucose on Ca2+ uptake and the inhibitory effect on Ca2+ efflux (in the absence of Ca2+) were found to be operative. A defect may therefore lie distal to the Ca2+ uptake step involving either the mechanism by which glucose uses cellular Ca or another step yet to be identified.

HB 699, a hypoglycaemic agent which lacks the structural requirements regarded as essential for the insulin releasing action of the sulfonamide group, was studied in isolated rat islets and compared with tolbutamide. In the presence of 8.3 mM glucose for long exposure (24 h) both substances induced an increase of insulin release without altering the islet insulin content. After preloading of the islets to isotopic equilibrium with 45Ca++ (24 h), HB 699 and tolbutamide induced a significant increase in total exchangeable calcium content parallelled by an increase in insulin release. Both effects could be suppressed by verapamil, a blocker of voltage-sensitive Ca++ channels. These results indicate that HB 699, like tolbutamide, stimulates insulin release by increasing Ca++ uptake by the B cells.

Glipizide is a new hypoglycaemic sulphonylurea. In this work we have studied experimentally the hypoglycaemic activity of this drug, its insulin secretory effect and its action on the development of the islets of Langerhans. Studies in the dog: In the normal conscious dog the hypoglycaemic effect of the drug was studied when increasing doses (0,03 mg/kg, 0,05 mg/kg, 0,07 mg/kg and 0,09 mg/kg) were injected intravenously. The hypoglycaemic effect of the drug occurred rapidly, reaching a maximum in about 30 minutes. The relative potency of glipizide was determined in comparison with tolbutamide. Under our experimental conditions, glipizide proved to be on average 99 times more active than tolbutamide when the doses were evaruated by weight; when the doses were expressed in moles it was 163 times more active. Plasma insulin levels manifested an increase at the first minute. This rose rapidly to a maximum at 5 to 15 minutes after the injection. Following this, insulinemia decreased and the values recorded at 60 minutes were about the same as the starting values. There is a linear relation between the logarithm of the dose and the area under the insulin curve measured for the first sixty minutes. After oral administration to the normal dog, glipizide (081 mg/kg and 1mg/kg) provoked a hypoglycemia manifested after a 30 to 60 minutes latent period. With the dose of 1 mg/kg the maximal effect on blood glucose level was reached between 1,30 and 3 hours, depending on the animal. Plasma insulin levels also increased after a latent period which varied from one animal to another. The dogs presenting the earliest increase in insulinemia were those in which glycemia drops most rapidly. Comparison with other sulfonamides (glibenclamide, glisoxepide and tolbutamide) showed that the hypoglycemic action of glipzide was very similar to that of glisoxepide and that it occurred much earlier than with glibenclamide. The insulin secretory effect of glipizide also occurred much earlier than that of glibenclamide, manifesting itself as early as that of glisoxepide and tolbutamide. Studies on the isolated rat pancreas: On the isolated rat pancreas perfused with Krebs-Ringer solution containing glucose (1,5 g/l), glipizide (10 mug/I) considerably increased the amount of secreted insulin. The stimulation of insulin secretion occurred rapidly and persisted powerfully during the entire duration of the infusion. It faded out progressively after stopping the infusion and the secretion remained higher than the control secretion during the following 45 minutes of the experiment. A concentration as low as 0,5 mug/I provoked a distinct increase of insulin secretion. Studies on the development of the islets of langerhans in the mouse: The prolonged administration of glipizide (100 mg/kg daily for 35 days) increased the "insular index", which is directly proportional to the islet weight, by 27%. Therefore this product possesses betacytotrophic activity...

The effects of clonidine were studied on insulin secretion from the isolated pancreas of the rat and newborn dog perfused in presence of 8.3 mmol/l glucose. The effects were compared to those induced by adrenalin. In the rat, clonidine and adrenalin infused for 30 minutes at 0.01 mumol/l caused an immediate and marked inhibition of insulin release (-- 79.1 +/- 2.6% for clonidine and -- 75.7 +/- 4.7% for adrenaline at the 15th minute of infusion). The inhibition due to clonidine has not completely disappeared 15 minutes after stopping the infusion. In the dog, both substances also induced an immediate and marked inhibition; but the effect of adrenalin disappeared before the end of the infusion. It follows that the inhibitory effect of clonidine on insulin secretion is more durable than that of adrenalin.

LN 5330 is a new benzothiadiazine which is a structural analogue of diazoxide. Its effects in vivo were studied on blood glucose levels and insulin, glucagon and somatostatin secretion in normal dogs, and in vitro on glucagon and insulin secretion from the isolated perfused rat pancreas. The results were compared with those obtained with diazoxide at equimolar dose or concentration. In the normal anaesthetized dog having a T-shaped catheter inserted in the pancreaticoduodenal vein, the infusion of LN 5330 (87.8 mumol/kg for 20 min) induced a progressive increase in blood glucose levels, a rapid decrease in insulin and somatostatin output rate, an immediate increase in pancreatic glucagon secretion, and a delayed decrease of arterial blood pressure. The equimolar dose of diazoxide provoked the same effects on blood glucose levels, insulin and somatostatin output, but a marked decrease in glucagon output and in arterial blood pressure. In the isolated rat pancreas perfused with 8.3 mmol/l glucose, the infusion of LN 5330 (440 mumol/l for 30 min) induced a drastic fall in insulin and a rapid and persistent increase in glucagon output. This stimulatory effect on glucagon secretion was not found with diazoxide at equimolar concentration. These findings show that LN 5330 is a substance which is distinct from diazoxide and interesting because of its double action: inhibition of insulin secretion and stimulation of glucagon secretion.

Previous studies have shown that adenosine, by activation of purinergic A2-receptors, stimulates glucagon secretion and increases vascular flow rate in isolated perfused pancreases from nondiabetic rats. Because alpha-cell function and blood flow control are known to be disturbed in diabetes, we investigated whether adenosine was still effective in streptozocin-induced diabetic (STZ-D) rats. Our experiments were performed on isolated perfused rat pancreases. Whereas, in normal rats, adenosine (1.65 microM) induced a 200% increase in glucagon output and a 25% rise in the pancreatic vascular flow rate, in rats diabetic for 5-6 wk, this nucleoside was ineffective on glucagon secretion, and its vasodilatory effect was strongly reduced. Long-term in vivo insulin treatment that reversed high glycemia levels was able to restore in large part both adenosine effects. In contrast, a short-term in vitro pretreatment with insulin was unable to restore the nucleoside effects. We conclude that STZ-D suppresses the stimulatory effect of adenosine on alpha-cells and strongly reduces its vasodilator properties; these abnormalities may be corrected in large part by long-term insulin treatment with normalization of glycemia.

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