Effects of alpha-adrenoceptor agonists and antagonists on insulin secretion, calcium uptake, and rubidium efflux in mouse pancreatic islets

Epinephrine, norepinephrine or the more selective alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonist, clonidine, inhibited insulin release from isolated pancreatic islets of lean mice or obese mice homozygous for the gene ob. Clonidine was highly effective at 0.1 mumol/l. In contrast, the preferential alpha-1 adrenoceptor agonist, phenylephrine, had no or only a modest effect at 10 mumol/l. The effects of norepinephrine or clonidine were counteracted by yohimbine, a preferential blocker of alpha-2 receptors, but not by prazosine, an alpha-1 receptor blocker. The glucose-stimulated uptake of 45Ca2+ in the islets was only consistently inhibited by epinephrine. This effect was counteracted by yohimbine. Clonidine had no effect on the release of 86Rb+ from preloaded islets. It is concluded that insulin secretion is suppressed by alpha-2 receptor agonism in the pancreatic beta-cells and that this effect is mediated by mechanisms other than the transmembrane fluxes of calcium or potassium ions.     

D-glucose stimulates the Na+/K+ pump in mouse pancreatic islet cells

To determine the effect of D-glucose on the beta-cell Na+/K+ pump, 86Rb+ influx was studied in isolated, -cell-rich islets of Ume?-ob/ob mice in the absence or presence of 1mM ouabain. D-glucose (20mM) stimulated the ouabain-sensitive portion of 86Rb+ influx by 65%, whereas the ouabain-resistant portion was inhibited by 48%. The Na+/K+ ATPase activity in homogenates of islets of Ume?-ob/ob mice or normal mice was determined to search for direct effects of D-glucose. Thus, ouabain-sensitive ATP hydrolysis in islet homogenates was measured in the presence of different D-glucose concentrations. No effect of D-glucose (3-20mM) was observed in either ob/ob or normal islets at the optimal Na+/K+ ratio for the enzyme (135mM Na+ and 20mM K+). Neither D-glucose (3-20mM) nor L-glucose or 3-O-methyl-D-glucose (20mM) affected the enzyme activity at a high Na+/K+ ratio (175 mM Na+ and 0.7 mM K+). Diphenylhydantoin (150 microM) decreased the enzyme activity at optimal Na+/K+ ratio, whereas 50 microM of the drug had no effect. The results suggest that D-glucose induces a net stimulation the Na+/K+ pump of beta-cells in intact islets and that D-glucose does not exert any direct effect on the Na+/K+ ATPase activity.     

K-ATP channel independent effects of pinacidil on ATP production in isolated cardiomyocyte or pancreatic beta-cell mitochondria

Evidence has been presented that mitochondria contain ATP sensitive potassium channels (mK-ATP channels), which may confer tissue protection upon activation. It is, however, not known whether activation of mK-ATP channels has a direct effect on mitochondrial ATP production. This study was performed to define the effect of pinacidil (PIN) on ATP production by oxidative phosphorylation in isolated cardiomyocyte or pancreatic beta-cell mitochondria. Cardiomyocyte mitochondria produced seven times more ATP than beta-cell mitochondria in the presence of pyruvate/malate. PIN inhibited pyruvate/malate-induced mitochondrial ATP production with half maximal effect at 360 microM in both cell types. The inclusion of 5-hydroxydecanoate (5-HD) did not prevent this inhibition. Succinate induced a similar ATP production in cardiomyocyte or beta-cell mitochondria. In beta-cell mitochondria succinate-induced ATP production was inhibited by PIN with half maximal effects at 500 microM PIN. However, in cardiomyocyte mitochondria PIN stimulated succinate-induced ATP production 3-fold with half maximal effect at 100 microM and maximal effect at 200 microM. This PIN-dependent stimulation was mimicked by rotenone. The inclusion of 5-HD could not prevent these PIN effects. In conclusion, PIN may inhibit complex 1 of the respiratory chain without indications of opening mK-ATP channels. In cardiomyocytes with metabolically inhibited succinate dehydrogenase this results in a stimulation of ATP production conferring tissue protection. In beta-cells without a metabolically inhibited succinate dehydrogenase, there is no stimulation by PIN and tissue protection by PIN is not to be expected.     

Influence of anoxia on glucose metabolism in pancreatic islets: Lack of correlation between fructose-1,6-diphosphate and apparent glycolytic flux

Summary When equilibrated with O₂-CO₂ (95:5), pancreatic islets of non-inbredob/ob-mice exhibited a sigmoidal dependence of³H₂O production on D-(5-³H)-glucose concentration; the rate was most sensitive to changes of glucose concentration around 5mM and tended to be maximum above about 15 mM glucose.³H₂O production from more than 5 mM D-(5-³H)-glucose was about twice as fast as the production of¹⁴CO₂ from equimolar D-(U-¹⁴C)-glucose. Islets equilibrated with N₂-CO₂ (95:5) did not exhibit a sigmoidal dose-response curve for³H₂O production, the process being inhibited by anoxia at glucose concentrations above 5mM. Pieces of exocrine pancreas had a slower aerobic³H₂O production than the islets and showed a clear enhancement of the process during anoxia. In comparison with oxygenated islets, anoxic islets exhibited decreased concentrations of glucose-6-phosphate and increased concentrations of fructose-l,6-diphosphate. The concomitant inhibition of glycolytic flux may be due to a low lactate dehydrogenase activity in islets yielding a slow reoxidation of NADH and a slow phosphoglyceraldehyde oxidation under anaerobic conditions.     

Further studies on the relationship between insulin release and lanthanum-nondisplaceable 45Ca2+ uptake by pancreatic islets: effects of fructose and starvation.

Relationships between the release of insulin and the incorporation of 45Ca2+ into a lanthanum-nondisplaceable (intracellular) pool were studied in islets microdissected from the pancreatic glands of non-inbred ob/ob mice. In comparison with D-glucose, D-fructose was slowly oxidized and had only marginal effects on insulin release. However, fructose was as effective as glucose in stimulating the lanthanum-nondisplaceable 45Ca2+ uptake. The 45Ca2+ uptake was dose-dependent on the concentration of fructose in the range 0-20 mM; the same dose-dependence was obtained with glucose. Fasting the mice for 3 days caused a total block of the insulin secretory response to 20 mM glucose, but it produced an enhancement of the glucose-induced 45Ca2+ uptake. Both the inhibition of insulin release and the enhancement of 45Ca2+ uptake were counteracted by pretreating the isolated islets with 20-40 mM D-glucose; pretreatment with L-glucose or fructose could not counteract the effects of fasting. Although some functional relationship may exist between the lanthanum-nondisplaceable uptake of 45Ca2+ and the insulin secretory apparatus, it is concluded that the uptake of Ca2+ is not simply the result of stimulated insulin release.     

Dissociation of beta-adrenoceptor-induced effects on amylase secretion and cyclic adenosine 3', 5' monophosphate accumulation.

By using a multi-channel microperifusion system the effects of noradrenaline, the beta1-adrenoceptor agonist prenalterol, and the beta2-selective agonist terbutaline were studied on amylase pig submandibular glands. 2 Noradrenaline caused significant amylase discharge and cyclic AMP accumulation. 3 Prenalterol was as effective as noradrenaline in causing amylase release but did not significantly affect the cyclic AMP content. 4 Terbutaline stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation, but had little effect on amylase secretion. 5 The present study reveals that there is a dissociation of the beta-adrenoceptor-induced amylase release and cyclic AMP formation, and that this dissociation may be due to different beta-adrenoceptor subtypes.     

Dynamics of pancreatic β-cell responses to glucose

Summary Microperifusion was used to study the dynamics of insulin release and metabolic changes in pancreatic islets microdissected fromob/ob-mice. When the islets were suddenly exposed to a high glucose concentration, their content of glucose-6-phosphate and fructose-1, 6-diphosphate started to rise immediately, whereas a secretory response was not observed until after about 80 sec. This is consistent with the hypothesis that glucose metabolism initiates insulin release. Fasting the donor animals for 18 h reduced the initial phase of glucose-stimulated release but left the rise of glucose-6-phosphate, as well as the late phase of sustained release, unaffected. The use of a tissue culture medium (TCM 199) instead of Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer as the basal medium increased the secretory responses to glucose, particularly the initial phase, both in islets from fed and fasted mice. However, the difference between fed and fasted mice remained. Theophylline did not restore the impaired initial secretory response after fasting. The responses of islet fructose-1,6-diphosphate and adenosine-5-triphosphate to glucose depended on the nutritional state of the animals and on the type of basal medium. No consistent correlation was observed between the changes of these substrates and the dynamics of insulin release.