Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

B Hellman

Publications and source records attributed to B Hellman.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources
PubMed1976

On the possible role of thiol groups in the insulin-releasing action of mercurials, organic disulfides, alkylating agents, and sulfonylureas.

The thiol activity of pancreatic islets was spectrophotometrically assayed as the formation of 6-mercaptonicotinic acid from the organic disulfide, 6,6'-dithiodinicotinic acid. Islets containing more than 90% beta-cells were microdissected from non-inbred ob/ob-mice. Comparisons of intact with homogenized islets indicated that the organic disulfide penetrates relatively slowly into the beta-cells. When tested at concentrations know to enhance insulin release, p-chloromercuribenzene-sulfonic acid almost completely blocked the thiol activity of intact islets, whereas no significant effect was observed with iodoacetamide, D-glucose, or glibenclamide. Although glibenclamide had no demonstrable effect on the thiol activity of free L-cysteine, the binding of glibenclamide to serum albumin was decreased by blocking the albumin thiols with azobenzene-2-sulfenyl bromide. The uptake of glibenclamide by pancreatic islets was inhibited by cysteine or reduced glutathione. Cysteine, as well as 6,6'-dithiodinicotinic acid, also seemed to interact negatively with glibenat organic mercurials and disulfides stimulate insulin release by blocking thiol groups in the beta-cell plasma membranes. The thiol groups involved in iodoacetamide-induced secretion may escape detection by the assay employed, or target groups other than thiols may be involved. The data on glibenclamide are compatible with, but do not unequivocally support, the notion that thiol groups may play a role in sulfonylurea-induced insulin release.

4-Chloromercuribenzenesulfonate↗
PubMed1975

Modifying actions of calcium ionophores on insulin release.

Beta-Cell-rich pancreatic islets were microdissected from noninbred ob/obmice and exposed to the calcium ionophores X-537A and A-23187. X-537A differed from A-23187 in being a potent insulin secretagogue at non-stimulating glucose concentrations. Both ionophores inhibited the stimulation of insulin release obtained after adding 20 mM glucose to the incubation medium. The latter observation is consistent with the idea of a reduced beta-cell function when the Ca-2+ in the functionally important intracellular pool (s) exceeds a certain concentration. The ionophore inhibition of the glucose-stimulated insulin release may at least in part result from decreased formation of cyclic AMP, since X-537A proved to be as effective as L-epinephrine in reducing the islet content of this nucleotide in the presence of a phosphodiesterase inhibitor. The secretagogic action of X-537A at a low glucose concentration persisted when different ions were omitted from the incubation medium and was actually considerably enhanced in the absence of extracellular Ca-2+. The insulin-releasing action of X-537A was neither influenced by 3-O-methyglucose nor by drugs blocking the alpha or beta-adrenergic receptor sites. Exposure of the pancreatic beta-cells to metabolic inhibitors in concentrations which significantly reduced the secretory response to glucose, potentiated stimulation of insulin release by X-537A, suggesting that this effect may in part be accounted for by intracellular dissolution of secretory granules.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Stimulation of insulin release by thiols.

The effects of thiol compounds on insulin release were studied in microdissected pancreatic islets of non-inbred ob/ob micemin control experiments the reactivity of thiols against 6,6'-dithiodinicotinic acid and the degradation of mouse insulin were measured. At a concentration of 0.1 mM, 1-thio-D-glucose or reduced glutathione potentiated the insulin-releasing action of 10 mM D-glucose without affecting glucose oxidation. When tested at a concentration equivalent to about 0.1 mM reactive thiol, dextran-linked L-cysteine also potentiated the glucose-induced insulin secretion. In microperifusion experiments the insulin-releasing action of 1-thio-D-glucose was found to exhibit a rapid onset followed by a decline of the secretory rate to values lower than those observed with 10 mMD-glucose alone. No thiol stimulated insulin release in the absence of glucose. It is suggested that thiol compounds stimulate insulin release by splitting membrane disulphides in the beta-cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

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

When equilibrated with O2-CO2 (95:5), pancreatic islets of non-inbred ob/ob-mice exhibited a sigmoidal dependence of 3H2O 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 15mM glucose. 3H2O production from more than 5 mM D-(5-3H)-glucose was about twice as fast as the production of 14CO2 from equimolar D-(U-14C)-glucose. Islets equilibrated with N2-CO2 (95:5) did not exhibit a sigmoidal dose-response curve for 3h2o production, the process being inhibited by anoxia at glucose concentrations above 5mM. Pieces of exocrine pancreas had a slower aerobic 3H2O 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 furctose-1,6-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.

Aerobiosis↗
PubMed1975

Function of microdissected pancreatic islets cultured in a chemically defined medium. I. Insulin content and release.

Microdissected pancreatic islets from non-inbred ob/ob-mice were cultured for 6 or 7 days in serum-free tissue culture medium 199. The insulin content of the islets decreased 60% during culture in 17 mM or 28 mM glucose and about 70% in the presence of 3.3 mM or 5.6 mM glucose. At the end of a culture period in high glucose, the sum of the insulin in the islet plus that in the culture medium was almost twice as high as the insulin content of fresh islets, indicating an active insulin biosynthesis. The maximal insulin response to glucose after culture in 17 mM or 28 mM glucose was about 40% of that in fresh islets; after culture in 3.3 mM glucose it was 10%. Half-maximal stimulation was observed at a glucose concentration of 5 mM for islets cultured with high glucose as compared to 9 mM for fresh islets. Like glucose, glibenclamide was a more effective insulin stimulator after culture with a high glucose concentration than with a low one. However, leucine-induced insulin release was not affected by the glucose concentration in the preceding culture medium. Whereas potentiation of glucose-stimulated release by arginine or dibutyryl-cAMP was independent of glucose concentration during the culture, theophylline released three times more insulin when the islets had been cultured with high glucose.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

The heat production of pancreatic beta-cells stimulated by glucose.

A recently developed batch microcalorimeter was used for studying heat production in beta-cell-rich pancreatic islets isolated from obese-hyperglycemic mice. In the absence of glucose, the rate of heat production was 50 nW/islet increasing to 90 nW/islet when the islets were exposed to 20 mM glucose. The data obtained are consistent with an increase in the caloric value of oxygen with glucose concentration, as might be expected when the beta-cells utilize proportionally more carbohydrate as a source of energy.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

The mechanisms of action of chloromercuribenzene-p-sulphonic acid as insulin secretagogue: fluxes of calcium, sodium and rubidium in islets exposed to mercurial and a membrane-active antagonist.

Chloromercuribenzene-p-sulphonic acid (CMBS) is known to markedly stimulate insulin release and to enhance formation of adenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic AMP) and monovalent cation permeability in the pancreatic islet cells. The effects on insulin release and cyclic AMP can be inhibited with 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulphonic acid (SITS). To elucidate the role of cationic fluxes in CMBS- induced insulin release, uptake of 22Na+ and 45Ca2+ as well as efflux of 86Rb+ were studied in islets exposed to 0-1 mM CMBS or 1-0 mM SITS or both. 2. The enhancing effect of CMBS on Na+ permeability, and probably also that on Rb+ permeability, was inhibited by SITS. 3. CMBS stimulated the rate of 45Ca2+ uptakes when the islets were incubated in a poly-anionic bicarbonate buffer but not when they were incubated in Tris buffer containing only Cl- as anion. In bicarbonate buffer, the enhancement of 45Ca2+ flux was observed both with the lanthanum method for measuring intracellular 45Ca2+ uptake and with a method estimating the total islet uptake. SITS had no significant effect on the CMBS-induced 45Ca2+ uptake. 4. Chromatography on Sephadex G-15 did not reveal any significant chemical interaction between 0-1 mM CMBS and 1 mM SITS. 5. The following hypothesis for the recognition of CMBS as insulin secretagogue is suggested: by increasing Na+ permeability more than K+ permeability, CMBS depolarizes the beta-cell, leading to initiation of insulin release by an ionic mechanism which may or may not involve a change in transmembrane Ca2+ fluxes. The marked intensity of the secretory response is due to the fact that CMBS also enhances cyclic AMP formation, potentiating the effect of the ionic mechanisms on the insulin discharge apparatus.

4-Chloromercuribenzenesulfonate↗
PubMed1975

The significance of calcium for glucose stimulation of insulin release.

The significance of Ca++ for glucose stimulation of insulin release was studied in an in vitro system with beta-cell-rich pancreatic islets microdissected from oh/ob-mice. There was only a slight depression of cAMP in islets exposed to the phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine after withdrawal of Ca++ from the incubation medium. The lack of a stimulatory effect of glucose noted in the absence of extracellular Ca++ is therefore probably accounted for by factors other than impaired adenylate cyclase activity. A rise of extracellular Ca++ above the concentration necessary for obtaining the optimal secretagogic effect of glucose resulted in inhibition of the glucose-stimulated insulin release, leaving basal secretions and islet contents of cAMP unaffected. Evidence was provided in support of the idea that H+ completes for Ca++ in glucose stimulation of insulin release. Both the rate of basal insulin release and that seen after stimulation with glucose were diminished by about 50% after introducing 0.2 mM La+++ in the incubation medium. These observations emphasize the significant role of Ca++ in the regulation of insulin secretion, suggesting that not only a decrease but also an increase of the functionally important intracellular pool(s) of Ca++ can result in a diminished response to glucose.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Insulin and growth hormone secretion in the nephrotic syndrome.

Carbohydrate metabolism was studied in a series of patients with the nephrotic syndrome and compared with a similar number of normal controls. The nephrotic syndrome was associated with a smaller secretion of insulin in response to intravenous glucose and tolbutamide than occurred in normals. In the syndrom fasting serum growth hormone (G.H.) concentrations were increased and did not show the characteristic suppression after glucose administration, and the disappearance rate of glucose (k value) was lower. well marked correlation existed between serum G.H. concentrations and the total urinary protein excreted. These abnormal findings returned to normal in a patient who underwent a repeat study when the nephrotic syndrome had resolved.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1974

The pancreatic beta-cell recognition of insulin secretagogues. Effects of calcium and sodium on glucose metabolism and insulin release.

The transport and oxidation of glucose, the content of fructose 1,6-diphosphate, and the release of insulin were studied in microdissected pancreatic islets of ob/ob mice incubated in Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate medium. Under control conditions glucose oxidation and insulin release showed a similar dependence on glucose concentration with the steepest slope in the range 5-12mm. The omission of Ca(2+), or the substitution of choline ions for Na(+), or the addition of diazoxide had little if any effect on glucose transport. However, Ca(2+) or Na(+) deficiency as well as diazoxide (7-chloro-3-methyl-1,2,4-benzothiadiazine 1,1-dioxide) or ouabain partially inhibited glucose oxidation. These alterations of medium composition also increased the islet content of fructose 1,6-diphosphate, as did the addition of adrenaline. Phentolamine [2-N-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-p-toluidinomethyl-2-imidazoline] counteracted the effects of adrenaline and Ca(2+) deficiency on islet fructose 1,6-diphosphate. After equilibration in Na(+)-deficient medium, the islets exhibited an increase in basal insulin release whereas the secretory response to glucose was inhibited. The inhibitory effects of Na(+) deficiency on the secretory responses to different concentrations of glucose correlated with those on (14)CO(2) production. When islets were incubated with 17mm-glucose, the sudden replacement of Na(+) by choline ions resulted in a marked but transient stimulation of insulin release that was not accompanied by a demonstrable increase of glucose oxidation. Galactose and 3-O-methylglucose had no effect on glucose oxidation or on insulin release. The results are consistent with a metabolic model of the beta-cell recognition of glucose as insulin secretagogue and with the assumption that Ca(2+) or Na(+) deficiency, or the addition of adrenaline or diazoxide, inhibit insulin release at some step distal to stimulus recognition. In addition the results suggest that these conditions create a partial metabolic block of glycolysis in the beta-cells. Hence the interrelationship between the processes of stimulus recognition and insulin discharge may involve a positive feedback of secretion on glucose metabolism.

Animals↗
PubMed1974

The pancreatic beta-cell recognition of insulin secretagogues: does cyclic AMP mediate the effect of glucose?

Insulin release and the content of cAMP were studied in microdissected pancreatic islets of noninbred ob/ob (obese) mice. In the absence of 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, 20 mM glucose had no effect on cAMP save a very small initial rise detectable by a freeze-stop perifusion technique only. However, combined with this methylxanthine, 20 mM glucose produced significant increases of cAMP both in perifused islets and in islets conventionally incubated in closed vials. Glucose shared this capacity to raise the cAMP level with D-glyceraldehyde and 1,3-dihydroxyacetone. Isobutylmethylxanthine (0.05-1.0 mM) or 5 mug/ml of cholera toxin, an activator of adenylate cyclase, also increased the islet cAMP level; the effects of the methylxanthine, whether or not combined with cholera toxin, were potentiated by glucose. Isobutylmethylxanthine (0.05-1.0 mM) or 5 mug/ml of cholera toxin potentiated insulin release in response to 20 mM glucose. However, only 0.5-1.0 mM isobutylmethylxanthine stimulated insulin release in the presence of 3 mM glucose, whereas 0.05-0.1 mM isobutylmethylxanthine or 5 mug/ml of cholera toxin had no effect on secretion at the low glucose concentration. These discrepancies between cAMP-promoting and insulin-releasing activities suggest that glucose does not initiate insulin release by activating the beta-cell adenylate cyclase. By being metabolized in the beta-cells, glucose may both create a release-initiating signal not identical with cAMP and enhance cAMP formation, leading to potentiation of the effect of the initiator signal.

Acetone↗