Polymyxin-B suppresses endotoxin-induced insulin hypersecretion in pancreatic islets

Endotoxin induces insulin hypersecretion in vivo, which results in hyperinsulinemia and glucose dyshomeostasis. Polymyxin-B (PMX-B), an inhibitor of protein kinase C (PKC), has been shown to ameliorate the consequences of endotoxin-induced hyperinsulinemia in vivo. To explore the mechanism for this effect in vitro, this study determined whether PMX-B could alter endotoxin-induced insulin hypersecretion in isolated pancreatic islets of Langerhans. Pancreases were obtained from fasted, male, Sprague-Dawley rats treated with either saline (control) or endotoxin (S. enteritidis B, 16.7 mg/kg, i.v.). Three hours after the experimental treatment, islets were isolated by collagenase digestion and then incubated for 1 hr in Krebs Ringer bicarbonate buffer containing 0.5% bovine albumin, 10 mM HEPES, 300 mg/dl D-glucose, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA, 1 microM when present), and PMX-B (1 or 10 mM when present). In the absence of PMA and PMX-B, "endotoxic" islets hypersecreted immunoreactive insulin (IRI) relative to control islets. PMA, the prototypical PKC activator, significantly increased IRI secretion from both control and "endotoxic" islets. The additional inclusion of PMX-B (1 mM or 10 mM) in the incubation media significantly reduced insulin secretion from both control and "endotoxic" islets and suppressed the insulin hypersecretion observed in "endotoxic" islets. Since insulin secretion occurs at least partially through mechanisms dependent on PKC activation, the ability of PMX-B to suppress insulin hypersecretion in "endotoxic" islets suggests that activation of PKC within pancreatic beta-cells may play a role in the excess insulin secretion and hyperinsulinemia associated with endotoxicosis.