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Biomedical subjects

I Valverde

Publications and source records attributed to I Valverde.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Impairment of insulin release by methylation inhibitors.

The possible participation of enzymatic methylation reactions in the process of insulin release was investigated in rat pancreatic islets. The combination of 3-deazaadenosine and DL-homocysteine impaired the incorporation of 3H-methyl from L-[methyl-3H]methionine into endogenous islet proteins and phospholipids, but failed to affect turnover in the phosphatidylinositol cycle. The inhibitors of methylation decreased insulin release evoked by D-glucose or the combinations of D-glucose and gliclazide, L-leucine and L-glutamine, or Ba2+ and theophylline. The inhibitors of methylation did not impair either the oxidation of D-glucose or affect its capacity to decrease K+ conductance, stimulate Ca2+ inflow and provoke 45Ca accumulation in pancreatic islets. It is proposed that, in the process of insulin secretion, a methyl acceptor protein and/or phospholipid play(s) a limited modulatory role in the coupling of cytosolic Ca2+ accumulation to exocytosis.

Animals↗

Metabolic and secretory effects of methylamine in pancreatic islets.

The metabolic and secretory effects of methylamine in rat pancreatic islets were investigated. Methylamine accumulated in islet cells, was incorporated into endogenous islet proteins, and inhibited the incorporation of [2,5-3H] histamine into either N,N-dimethylcasein or endogenous islet proteins. Methylamine (2 mM) did not affect the oxidation of glucose or endogenous nutrients or the intracellular pH in islet cells. Glucose did not affect the activity of transglutaminase in islet homogenates, the uptake of 14C-methylamine by intact islets or its incorporation into endogenous islet proteins. Methylamine inhibited insulin release evoked by glucose, other nutrient secretagogues, and non-nutrient insulinotropic agents such as L-arginine or gliclazide. The inhibitory effect of methylamine upon insulin release was diminished in the presence of cytochalasin B or at low extracellular pH. Methylamine retarded the conversion of proinsulin to insulin. Trimethylamine (0.7 mM) was more efficiently taken up by islet cells than methylamine (2.0 mM), and yet caused only a modest inhibition of insulin release. These findings suggest that methylamine interferes with a late step in the secretory sequence, possibly by inhibiting the access of secretory granules to their exocytotic site.

Acyltransferases↗

Inhibitory effect of clonidine upon adenylate cyclase activity, cyclic AMP production, and insulin release in rat pancreatic islets.

Conflicting opinions were recently expressed concerning the possible effect of alpha 2-adrenergic agonists upon cyclic AMP production in pancreatic islets. In the present study, clonidine inhibited glucose-induced insulin release from rat pancreatic islets, this inhibitory effect being abolished by idazoxan. Clonidine did not suppress the capacity of forskolin to augment glucose-induced insulin release. In a particulate subcellular fraction derived from the islets, adenylate cyclase was activated by calmodulin (in the presence of Ca2+), NaF, GTP, L-arginine, and forskolin, and slightly inhibited by clonidine. The inhibitory action of clonidine upon basal adenylate cyclase activity was more pronounced in islet crude homogenates. The inhibitory effect of clonidine was antagonized by forskolin whether in the particulate fraction or crude homogenate. At variance with the modest effects of glucagon, D-glucose, L-arginine, or a tumor-promoting phorbol ester upon cyclic AMP production by intact islets, forskolin caused a six-fold increase in cyclic AMP production. Clonidine inhibited cyclic AMP production by intact islets, whether in the absence or presence of forskolin. It is proposed that the inhibitory action of clonidine upon insulin release is attributable, in part at least, to inhibition of adenylate cyclase.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗

Effect of streptozotocin in a case of glucagon-secreting malignant islets-cell tumor.

A case of a 65-year-old woman with a pancreatic tumor secreting insulin, glucagon, and associated with high PTH levels and hypercalcemia is reported. The patient underwent two Streptozotocin (STZ) treatments (1 g iv/week for 10 weeks) after liver metastases were found. Hormonal and metabolic parameters were monitorized . Before the first STZ treatment insulin levels ranged between 78 and 132 microU/ml. After STZ administration insulin decreased and then remained lower (8-48 microU/ml) until the death of the patient. Pre-treatment glucagon levels ranged between 1.3 and 3.9 ng/ml. STZ induced a decrease of glucagon to 0.5 ng/ml. Glucagon chromatography revealed the prevalence of high molecular weight (greater than 6,000 mol wt) immunoreactive glucagon (0.9 ng/ml) drastically reduced by STZ treatment (0.15 ng/ml). Hypoaminoacidemia was observed before STZ administration, but at the end of the therapy plasma amino acid concentrations were normal. Hypercalcemia too was sensitive to STZ, but not PTH value, which remained high. The second STZ treatment performed a year later was less effective and so a chemotherapeutic protocol was started. Our findings suggest a cytolitic effect of STZ on malignant A-cell, with reduction of glucagon levels and restoration of amino acid metabolism. This effect would be useful for medical treatment of non-operable glucagon secreting tumors.

Adenoma, Islet Cell↗

Immunoreactive pancreatic polypeptide components in plasma from normal subjects and patients with chronic renal failure in basal and postprandial conditions.

Gel filtration of plasma from normal subjects and patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) yielded four immunoreactive human pancreatic polypeptide (IRhPP) peaks of approximately greater than 20,000, 10,000, 4200, and 2000 daltons. In normal subjects, the basal plasma distribution was 36 +/- 2%, 16 +/- 3%, 25 +/- 1% and 23 +/- 2%, respectively. In the CRF patients, the total plasma IRhPP was close to ten times higher than in the normal group. This difference was due to an increase in IRhPP10000 and IRhPP4200 plasma levels. After a standard breakfast, plasma IRhPP10000 and IRhPP4200 levels increased in the normal subjects and in the CRF patients, while the levels of the other two plasma components were not affected by the meal. In a patient with multiple endocrine adenomatosis type 1, the basal plasma levels of IRhPP10000 and IRhPP4200 were, respectively, 41 and 44 times higher than the mean value in the normal subjects; these fractions appeared to be further increased after breakfast. In trying to characterize the IRhPP10000, it was found that treatment with urea, guanadium hydrochloride, and acetic acid (pH 2.2) did not alter its molecular size, whereas limited trypsin treatment was able to destroy part of the immunoreactivity and to produce greater than 20,000-dalton and 4200-dalton immunoreactive materials. Plasma IRhPP10000 seems to be a co-secretory product of the PP cell, and the kidney plays a role in its catabolism as well as in that of the IRhPP4200 component. The IRhPP10000 component may correspond to a PP precursor.

Adult↗

Forskolin-induced activation of adenylate cyclase, cyclic adenosine monophosphate production and insulin release in rat pancreatic islets.

Forskolin activated adenylate cyclase in rat islet homogenates and stimulated cAMP production in intact islets incubated in the absence or presence of either D-glucose or Ca2+. Forskolin failed to affect D-[U-14C]glucose oxidation, glucose-stimulated net 45Ca uptake, or basal insulin release, but enhanced insulin secretion evoked by either nutrients (D-glucose, 2-ketoisocaproate, L-leucine alone or in combination with L-glutamine), or nonnutrient secretagogues (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, Ba2+ alone or in combination with theophylline). Forskolin stimulated insulin release from islets incubated in the presence of glucose but in the absence of Ca2+. These findings confirm that a marked increase in cAMP production is not sufficient to cause sustained insulin release. They also suggest that the enhancing action of endogenous cAMP upon insulin release does not depend on a facilitation of Ca2+ influx into islet cells.

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine↗

Phospholipid methylation in pancreatic islets.

Glucose provokes a transient stimulation of phospholipid methylation in rat pancreatic islets, possibly by increasing phospholipid methyltransferase activity. The association of DL-homocysteine and 3-deazaadenosine inhibits phospholipid methylation. The methylation of phospholipids may play a role in the stimulus-secretion coupling for glucose-induced insulin release.

Animals↗

Mechanism of 3-phenylpyruvate-induced insulin release. Secretory, ionic and oxidative aspects.

1. 3-Phenylpyruvate caused a dose-related stimulation of insulin release from rat pancreatic islets deprived of exogenous nutrient or incubated in the presence of 5.6 or 8.3 mM-D-glucose. 2. 3-Phenylpyruvate inhibited insulin release evoked by high concentrations of D-glucose (16.7 or 27.8 mM) or 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate (10.0 mM). This inhibitory effect appeared to be attributable to impairment of 2-oxo-acid transport into the mitochondria, with resulting inhibition of D-glucose, pyruvate or 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate oxidation. 3. 3-Phenylpyruvate failed to affect the oxidation of, and secretory response to, L-leucine, and did not augment insulin release evoked by a non-metabolized analogue of the latter amino acid. 4. L-Glutamine augmented 3-phenylpyruvate-induced insulin release. The release of insulin evoked by the combination of 3-phenylpyruvate and L-glutamine represented a sustained phenomenon, abolished in the absence of extracellular Ca2+ or the presence of menadione and potentiated by theophylline. 5. Whether in the presence or in the absence of L-glutamine, the secretory response to 3-phenylpyruvate coincided with an increase in O2 uptake, a decrease in K+ conductance, a stimulation of both Ca2+ inflow and 45Ca2+ net uptake and an increase in cyclic AMP content. 6. It is concluded that the release of insulin induced by 3-phenylpyruvate displays features classically encountered when the B-cell is stimulated by nutrient secretagogues, and is indeed attributable to an increase in nutrient catabolism.

Animals↗

Glucagon deficiency associated with hypoglycaemia and the absence of islet cell antibodies in the polyglandular failure syndrome before the onset of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: a case report.

The case of a female patient with fasting hypoglycaemia before the development of Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus is reported. She presented with primary hypothyroidism, partial hypopituitarism, adrenal insufficiency and glucagon deficiency. Thyroid microsomal and gastric parietal cell antibodies were detected as well as HLA-B8, whereas islet cell antibodies were not demonstrable, even 2 years after the onset of diabetes. Plasma chromatography revealed true pancreatic glucagon (IRG3500) close to undetectable in basal samples with a questionable increase from 3 to 18 pg/ml during insulin-induced hypoglycaemia. After an overnight fast, moderate hyperaminoacidaemia was found with elevations of alanine, glycine, serine, arginine and ornithine as seen in pancreatectomized patients. It is suggested that the deficient glucagon secretion in this patient might, at least in part, have been the cause of fasting hypoglycaemia and the failure of glucose recovery following insulin-induced hypoglycaemia. Possible, the A cell deficiency was part of the polyglandular failure syndrome in this patient.

Adrenal Insufficiency↗

Effect of insulin replacement on intermediary metabolism in diabetes secondary to pancreatectomy.

Patients with diabetes due to pancreatectomy have metabolic features different from Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes after insulin withdrawal. Whether or not glucagon by itself or combined glucagon-insulin absence are responsible for this metabolic behaviour is unknown. This study was carried out to evaluate the ability of insulin replacement to abolish differences between patients with Type 1 diabetes and patients with diabetes due to pancreatectomy. We studied the diurnal patterns of intermediary metabolites, free insulin, and glucagon using the Biostator (glucose-controlled insulin infusion system) and intensive subcutaneous insulin therapy in five patients after total pancreatectomy, five after partial pancreatectomy and seven patients with Type 1 diabetes. All were studied for 24 h after an overnight period of normoglycaemia. Insulin requirement was lower in the patients with total pancreatectomy than in patients with partial pancreatectomy or Type 1 diabetes during both types of insulin treatment (p less than 0.05). Blood glucose and free insulin were similar in all the groups in both conditions. Immunoreactive glucagon was higher in the patients with diabetes secondary to pancreatectomy than in Type 1 diabetic patients. However, glucagon levels did not increase after arginine infusion in the patients with total pancreatectomy, and column chromatography of blood samples from two totally pancreatectomized patients showed no significant levels of immunoreactive pancreatic glucagon. Non-esterified fatty acids and ketone bodies were similar during Biostator and intensive subcutaneous insulin therapy. By contrast, gluconeogenic precursors (lactate, pyruvate, alanine and glycerol) were higher in patients with total pancreatectomy than in patients with partial pancreatectomy and Type 1 diabetes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

The stimulus-secretion coupling of glucose-induced insulin release. LIII. Calcium-dependency of the cyclic AMP response to nutrient secretagogues.

Above a threshold value in excess of 5.6 mM, D-glucose increases the amount of cyclic AMP measured by radioimmunoassay in pancreatic rat islets and their surrounding incubation medium. As judged from the cyclic AMP content of islets exposed to isobutylmethylxanthine (1.0 mM), the glucose-induced increment in the rate of cyclic AMP generation represents a rapid and sustained phenomenon. The stimulant action of glucose on cyclic AMP accumulation is mimicked by L-leucine, and L-glutamine, these amino acids acting synergistically of one another. Trifluoperazine slightly decreases but fails to abolish the effect of glucose. In the absence of extracellular Ca2+, however, the cyclic AMP response to D-glucose, L-leucine and/or L-glutamine is severely impaired. These findings are compatible with the view that an increase in the generation rate of cyclic AMP participates in the process of nutrient-stimulated insulin release. This increase could be secondary to the nutrient-induced accumulation of Ca2+ in the islet cells leading to activation of adenylate cyclase by calmodulin.

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine↗

The stimulus-secretion coupling of amino acid-induced insulin release. Influence of a nonmetabolized analog of leucine on the metabolism of glutamine in pancreatic islets.

L-Glutamine causes a dose-related enhancement of insulin release evoked, in rat pancreatic islets, by the nonmetabolized analog of leucine, 2-aminobicyclo-[2,2,1]heptane-2-carboxylic acid (BCH). The influence of BCH upon the metabolism of L-glutamine was investigated. In the islets exposed to L-glutamine, BCH decreased the deamidation of glutamine, but stimulated the oxidative deamination of glutamate, increased the rate of generation and islet content of 2-ketoglutarate, and augmented the oxidation of L-[U-14C]glutamine. BCH antagonized the sparing action of L-glutamine upon the oxidation of endogenous fatty acids. The stimulation of insulin release by the association of L-glutamine and BCH was commensurate with the estimated increase in O2 consumption and coincided with an increase in the islet NADPH/NADP+ ratio, net uptake of 45Ca, and cyclic AMP concentration. It is concluded that insulin release evoked by these amino acids is causally linked to an increase in catabolic fluxes, the secretagogues acting in the islet cells as a fuel (glutamine) or enzyme activator (BCH).

Adenine Nucleotides↗

Absence of islet alpha cell function in pancreatectomized patients.

Plasma immunoreactive glucagon, C-peptide and substrates (glucose, lactate, and alanine) were measured in 21 pancreatectomized patients and 28 patients with chronic calcifying pancreatitis during arginine infusion. Results were compared with those obtained in control and in insulin-dependent diabetic subjects, and in pancreatectomized subjects receiving a combined infusion of glucagon and arginine or somatostatin and arginine. Plasma immunoreactive glucagon in the pancreatectomized patients was 230 +/- 26 pg/ml (control subjects 100 +/- 13 pg/ml, p less than 0.001), but was unchanged following arginine or somatostatin. Following ethanol extraction of plasma it became undetectable. Similar results were obtained in patients with chronic pancreatitis. In contrast to the insulin-dependent diabetic subjects, no changes in blood glucose, lactate, and alanine concentrations were found during arginine infusion in the pancreatectomized or pancreatitis patients. Addition of glucagon restored the metabolic response to arginine in the pancreatectomized patients. Our results confirm previous smaller studies that in pancreatectomized patients, A cell function is absent or insignificant.

Adult↗

Autoimmunity to insulin in a child with hypoglycemia.

Plasma insulin antibodies were present in a 5-year-old boy who had been suffering from frequent hypoglycemic episodes during a year without exogenous insulin administration. The antibodies were of low titre one month after the last hypoglycemic episode, although a possible previous higher titre could have been responsible for the child's symptoms. After 17 months, during which the child remained asymptomatic, insulin antibodies could not be detected in his plasma. This is a new case of insulin autoimmunity associated with hypoglycemia.

Autoantibodies↗

Renal metabolism of gut glucagon-like immunoreactivity.

To examine the role of the kidney in the catabolism of gut glucagon-like immunoreactivity (GLI), we compared the plasma GLI responses of normal and nephrectomized dogs given intraduodenal glucose loads and studied the clearance of gut GLI by the isolated perfused rat kidney. Both basal and postload plasma samples were analyzed with a glucagon C-terminal specific antibody and a GLI-reacting N-terminal antibody. The GLI response was taken to be the difference between the increments seen with these two antibodies after glucose loading. Although glucose-induced GLI increments could not be detected in untreated plasma from nephrectomized dogs, chromatographed plasma revealed a significant rise in GLI-fraction II (7000--12000 daltons) in both nephrectomized and normal dogs (732 +/- 200 and 586 +/- 111 pg/ml, respectively). We also found that crystalline glucagon was cleared by the isolated closed-circuit perfused rat kidney, but gut-GLI either as crude extract or as peak I (7000--12000 daltons) was not. Our data suggest that the kidney may not play an important role in gut-GLI catabolism.

Animals↗

Mathematical modelling of cyclic AMP-Ca2+ interactions in pancreatic islets.

A mathematical model is proposed to account for the interactions between Ca2+ and cyclic AMP in the process of glucose-induced insulin release. This model allows simulation of experimental findings such as the glucose-induced accumulation of cyclic AMP in islet cells, the calcium dependency of the latter accumulation, the time course of 45Ca net uptake by the islets exposed to glucose and/or a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, the stimulation of insulin release by glucose, the suppression of such a release at low extracellular Ca2+ concentration and its amplification by phosphodiesterase inhibitors, the restoration of a significant secretory response to glucose in islets deprived of Ca2+ but exposed to a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, and the usual relationship between 45Ca net uptake and insulin release. All these data refer to studies performed over a 90-min incubation. The model is not suitable, however, to simulate the rapid response of the islet cells during the first few minutes that follow a change in the environment of the islets.

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine↗