PubMed1985
Blood glucose, plasma insulin and glucagon, as well as pancreatic insulin, glucagon and somatostatin contents, were measured in control (C group, 18% casein), deprived (D group, 5% casein) and pair-fed (PF) rats at seven intervals during 23 wk after weaning (wk 0). In C rats, plasma and pancreatic insulin showed parallel variations, in D rats, plasma insulin increased normally until wk 3 after weaning, dropped from wk 3 to 8 and was higher in wk 16 and 23 than in wk 8, while pancreatic insulin increased linearly after a significant drop between wk 0 and 1. Insulin variations in D rats were related to protein deficiency until wk 5, but only to energy deficiency thereafter. Circulating and pancreatic glucagon dropped identically for the three groups until wk 5: its role in adaptation to malnutrition is quite irrelevant, although a dysregulation of its secretion was noted. Protein-energy malnutrition induced an increase of pancreatic somatostatin content that was due to the energy deficiency. On the basis of the insulin-to-glucagon ratio, three phases of adaptation to protein-energy malnutrition appeared. From wk 0 to 3, the metabolic priority was growth, whereas glucose homeostasis was secondary, accounting for the early hypoglycemia. From wk 3 to 8 survival was the main priority. After wk 8, the various biochemical parameters stabilized, and growth was parallel to that of normal animals. Protein-energy malnutrition was responsible for a dissociated adaptation of pancreatic hormones.
Adaptation, Physiological↗