Bombesin receptor subtype-3 modulates plasma insulin concentration.

Mice lacking a functional bombesin receptor subtype-3 (BRS-3) develop mild obesity. However, the origin of obesity in BRS-3 knockout (KO) mice remains unclear. We used a strain-crossing strategy to investigate the physiological role of the BRS-3 pathway. We crossed female heterozygous BRS-3 KO mice (X-/X) and male KK-Ay mice (Ay/+) to obtain BRS-3 KO/KK-Ay hybrid animals. In X-/Y:Ay/+ mice, plasma insulin concentrations were significantly higher, and on the oral glucose tolerance test, the additional secretion of insulin was impaired compared to other genotypes. Our results indicate that the BRS-3 pathway contributes to the regulation of plasma insulin concentrations.