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.