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Biomedical subjects

S R Levin

Publications and source records attributed to S R Levin.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

Effects of gastrointestinal polypeptides on hormone content of endocrine pancreas in the rat.

Although trophic actions of gastrointestinal peptides on exocrine pancreas have been shown, little is known regarding their effects in endocrine pancreas. Therefore, we measured the contents of somatostatin-like immunoreactivity (SLI), insulin and glucagon, in pancreatic extracts from rats that had been treated three times a day for 10 days with saline; 1 microgram/kg caerulein; 5, 25, and 100 microgram/kg secretin; 1 microgram/kg caerulein plus 5, 25, and 100 microgram/kg secretin; 25 microgram/kg pancreatic polypeptide; 15 microgram/kg glicentin; or 15 microgram/kg gastric-inhibitory polypeptide. Pancreatic SLI content was significantly increased in rats treated with glicentin and caerulein plus secretin at the two higher doses. No difference was noted between the control and the caerulein plus 100 microgram/kg secretin groups in delta-cell number per islet when examined by the immunoperoxidase technique. These data suggest that because of their effect on SLI content gastrointestinal polypeptides may modulate pancreatic endocrine function.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Augmentation of insulin secretion by a non-nutrient drink.

Because it is known that nutrients can enhance insulin release, we studied the effect of a drink which was devoid of nutrients upon the immunoreactive insulin response to i.v. glucose in 13 normal subjects. The summated immunoreactive insulin secretory response during an i.v. glucose infusion (500 ml 10% glucose over 30 min) was 178 +/- 32 (SEM) microU/ml. However, when subjects ingested 500 ml 3% mannitol in a physiologic electrolyte solution given 30 min before the i.v. glucose, 56% augmentation of insulin release was noted (277 +/- 38 microU/ml, P less than 0.005). Post-infusion serum glucose was lower when the drink preceded i.v. glucose. The 3% mannitol-electrolyte drink itself did not significantly alter insulin, gastrin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide, or glucagonlike immunoreactivity. Two percent mannitol-electrolyte solution did not produce the insulin enhancing effects of the more hypertonic solution. In contrast with the effects of glucose, when arginine was used as the i.v. insulin secretagogue, antecedent 3% mannitol-electrolyte ingestion produced no enhancement of insulin release. This study demonstrates that ingestion of a non-nutrient drink with an osmolality of at least 456 mosmol/kg augments insulin secretion in response to a subsequent i.v. glucose load.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Secretion of an insulinotropic factor from isolated, perfused rat intestine.

To examine gut-islet interrelationships, we entirely separated the gastrointestinal tract from the rat. When we arterially perfused this preparation with an erythrocyte-free solution for 1 h, it remained histologically intact and took up oxygen and glucose. Feedings were given via a duodenal tube. The gut absorbed glucose when glucose in the feeding was high (9.2 g/dl), but not when glucose in the feeding was low (58 mg/dl). With feeding, the portal venous effluent (PVE) from this preparation (stomach to ileum) enhanced late-phase, glucose-induced insulin secretion from pancreas of another rat. This enhancement occurred when the gut was fed either glucose (9.2 g/dl) in electrolyte solution or electrolyte solution alone. PVE from glucose-fed upper gut (stomach, duodenum) was similarly insulinotropic. In contrast, PVE from unfed gut or from glucose-fed gut of old rats was not insulinotropic. PVE from all gut preparations except upper gut produced a glucagon "spike" during basal pancreatic perfusion. Effects of gastrointestinal peptides (gastric inhibitory polypeptide, cholecystokinin octapeptide, secretin, gastrin) and immunoassays of PVE suggested that the insulinotropic substance is not one of these peptides. Thus, an insulinotropic substance that is not dependent on feeding nutrient material is secreted from the intestine.

Aging↗
PubMed1979

The effects of thyrotropin-releasing hormone on the endocrine pancreas.

TRH has been shown to be present in the pancreas. To examine a possible role for TRH in the control of endocrine pancreatic function, we have studied the effects of TRH on the isolated perfused rat pancreas preparation. Arginine caused release of TRH from the preparation. The mean maximum TRH peak was 85 +/- 12 pg/ml and occurred later than the first phase of glucagon release. Glucagon (2000 pg/ml) did not release TRH from the preparation. There was no detectable basal release of TRH. Glucose did not stimulate release of TRH from the pancreas preparation. TRH (10 ng/ml) by itself had no effect on insulin or glucagon release. TRH enhanced arginine-induced glucagon release; mean summated glucagon was 8228 +/- 1138 (SE) pg/ml compared to controls (4530 +/- 447 pg/ml; P less than 0.01). There was a tendency for TRH to enhance second phase glucose-induced insulin release. Pancreatic physiology is in part regulated by locally acting hormones and TRH may be one of these hormones.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

The relationship of visual attention to children's comprehension of television.

The study experimentally tested the relationship between visual attention and comprehension of a TV program. 72 5-year-old children watched a 40-min version of the TV program "Sesame Street." Half the children viewed the program in the presence of a variety of toys and half viewed without toys. The children were then tested for their comprehension of the program. Although visual attention to the TV in the no-toys group was nearly twice that in the toys group, there was no difference between the groups in comprehension. There were, nevertheless, significant within-group correlations between visual attention and comprehension even for questions concerning only auditorily presented material. The results were interpreted as indicating that in a normal TV viewing setting, variations in the comprehensibility of the TV program may determine variations in children's attention to the TV.

Attention↗
PubMed1978

Adenosine triphosphatases of rat pancreatic islets: comparison with those of rat kidney.

Electrolyte fluxes are fundamental to normal endocrine pancreatic function. Adenosine triphosphatases (ATPases) are enzyme systems believed to modulate electrolyte movements across membranes in a number of cell types. This study was undertaken to measure cation-dependent ATPases of rat pancreatic islets. In addition, we compared effects of substances which influence endocrine pancreatic function upon ATPases in homogenates of islets and kidney, the latter being a tissue which would not be expected to have a stimulus-secretion response to substances which activate islets. Both tissues were generally similar with respect to apparent Michaelis constant (ATP) of Na(+)K(+)ATPase, Mg(++)ATPase, and Ca(++)ATPase. In islets and kidney, Na(+)K(+)ATPase specific activity was increased when the Na:K ratio was lowered from 250:1 (175:0.7 mM) to 5:1 (100:20 mM). Inhibition of Na(+)K(+)ATPase at either Na:K ratio by ouabain, an activator of secretion, and enhancement of the high-ratio Na(+)K(+)ATPase by diphenylhydantoin, an islet secretory inhibitor, were also common to both tissues. Because both inhibition and enhancement of Na(+)K(+)ATPase could be studied at the high Na:K ratio, we examined the effect of regulators of secretion upon the activity of this enzyme. Like ouabain, substances which induce or support islet secretion, glucose 16 mM or 3.3 mM, arginine 14.2 mM (with 3.3 mM glucose), or Ca(++) 1 mM, inhibited high-ratio islet Na(+)K(+)ATPase. Like diphenylhydantoin, the inhibitors of insulin secretion, diazoxide 0.22 mM, or NH(4)Cl 16 mM, enhanced this islet ATPase. Neither valine, which is non-secretogenic, nor arginine without glucose, which is a weak secretagogue, had any effect upon islet Na(+)K(+)ATPase. We examined the effect of these substances upon other cation-dependent islet ATPases. Ca(++) inhibited Mg(++)ATPase, and glucose inhibited Ca(++)ATPase. Leucine, 22.9 mM, which induces insulin secretion in the absence of glucose, suppressed islet Ca(++)ATPase and had no effect upon high-ratio Na(+)K(+)ATPase. In contrast to the observations in the islets, most substances which influence islet function had no effect on kidney ATPases, or effects which were different from those seen in islets. Except for ouabain, none of these substances influenced the three kidney ATPases in a manner similar to that seen with islets. These findings support the hypothesis that cation-dependent ATPases are involved in specificity of islet response to substances which influence endocrine pancreatic activity.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1977

Multiple myeloma. Orbital involvement in a youth.

Orbital involvement by multiple myeloma is rare and affects older individuals usually. The youngest reported patient in a recent series that cites a median age of 56 years is 30 years of age. The present case involves a 19-year-old pregnant black female subject who complained initially of diplopia and whose presenting sign was proptosis. An extensive medical work-up and electron microscopic study were necessary to establish the diagnosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Use of diphenylhydantoin and diazoxide to investigate insulin secretory mechanisms.

In the isolated, perfused rat pancreas, we contrasted effects of diphenylhydantoin (DPH) and diazoxide on glucose-induced biphasic insulin secretion. Either drug partially inhibited the first phase. However, DPH completely inhibited the second phase, whereas diazoxide produced inhibition, then escape and post-inhibitory overshoot. Exposure to DPH prior to glucose further inhibited the first phase, and increasing the dose had no additional effects, whereas only raising the diazoxide dose intensified inhibition of early release. DPH sequentially suppressed early response to a series of two, short, glucose pulses. In contrast, no additional effects of diazoxide were noted after its initial inhibition of the first pulse. A computer analysis was programmed from hypotheses based on these experiments. It suggests that DPH inhibits release from a labile compartment and provision of insulin to that compartment, whereas diazoxide divides the labile compartment into two sequential subcompartments. Further, the computer analysis indicates that, with diazoxide, insulin (or substances on which secretion depends) accumulates not at the final release step but at a proximal portion of the labile compartment.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal responsiveness to dexamethasone-insulin tolerance test in active acromegaly.

Eight acromegalic patients showed a plasma cortisol (11-OHCS) rise after insulin hypoglycemia which was similar to that seen in control patients, with mean peak values (+/-SEM) of 23.2 +/- 3.5 mug/100 ml and 27.2 +/- 3.3 mug/100 ml, respectively. One mg of dexamethasone was given the evening prior to repeat insulin hypoglycemia (DEX-ITT). After dexamethasone, the control subjects showed a mean post hypoglycemic plasma 11-OHCS rise to 18.3 +/- 2.3 mug/100 ml. In contrast, acromegalic patients had a negligible rise is plasma 11-OHCS, despite a comparable degree of hypoglycemia. These data indicate that, in active acromegaly, abnormal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal suppressibility can be induced to insulin hypoglycemia after dexamethasone.

11-Hydroxycorticosteroids↗
PubMed1975

Neuromuscular complications of acromegaly.

Seventeen consecutive acromegalic patients were evaluated for evidence of neuromuscular dysfunction and followed for 1 year after hypophysectomy. Before treatment, four patients had both a myopathy and the carpal tunnel syndrome, five had myopathy alone, four had carpal tunnel syndrome alone, and four had neither. The myopathy was caracterized by mild, strictly promixal weakness and flabbiness of muscles; electromyography revealed typical myopathic abnormalities, but serum enzymes and muscle biopsy usually were normal. The presence of myopathy or the carpal tunnel syndrrome could not be correlated with the magnitude of growth hormone elevation or any secondary endocrine derangement, but myopathy was associated with a longer duration of acromegaly. Carpal tunnel symptoms usually improved in the first 6 weeks after hypophysectomy, while myopathy improved more slowly and sometimes was detectable 1 year later.

Acromegaly↗