Somatostatin, insulin, and glucagon secretion from isolated perfused pancreas of obese rats.

A comparison of the somatostatin with the insulin and glucagon secretions in hypothalamic obesity and genetic obesity was made using the isolated perfused pancreas of rats. In our perfusion experiment, the somatostatin response to 19 mM arginine in the presence of 4.4 mM glucose was significantly greater in both ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)-lesioned and Zucker fa/fa rats than in their controls, as was the perfusate insulin. The perfusate arginine-stimulated glucagon secretion appeared no different in obese and control rats. Because hyperinsulinemia in vivo and hyperresponses to arginine of perfusate insulin and somatostatin were observed in both VMH-lesioned and Zucker fa/fa rats, whereas the perfusate glucagon secretion in the presence of 4.4 mM glucose was unchanged by obesity, the secretory behavior of some pancreatic hormones seems similar in VMH-lesioned and Zucker fa/fa rats in certain conditions. These results suggest that some abnormalities of pancreatic hormone secretion may be caused by a mechanism common to obesity, whether caused experimentally or genetically.