Pancreatic islet blood flow during euglycaemic, hyperinsulinaemic clamp in anaesthetized rats

Previous studies have demonstrated that pancreatic islet blood flow is crucially dependent on blood glucose concentration. Thus, hyperglycaemia increases and hypoglycaemia decreases islet blood perfusion, by a combination of nervous and metabolic signals. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if hyperinsulinaemia, without associated hypoglycaemia, affects islet blood flow.

Thiobutabarbital-anaesthetized Wistar-Furth rats were subjected to an euglycaemic, hyperinsulinaemic clamp, that is they were infused for 60 min with either saline, insulin (18 mU kg(-1) min(-1)), glucose (27 mg kg(-1) min(-1)) or both glucose and insulin. This was followed by islet blood flow measurements with a microsphere technique.

Animals receiving only glucose doubled their blood glucose and serum insulin concentrations, whereas rats receiving only insulin had blood glucose concentrations <2 mmol L(-1) and a 10-fold increase in serum insulin concentrations. Animals given simultaneous glucose and insulin had normal blood glucose concentrations but a 10-fold increase in serum insulin concentrations. Total pancreatic blood flow was unaffected in all animals. Islet blood flow was increased in hyperglycaemic and decreased in hypoglycaemic rats compared with control rats. Islet blood flow did not differ between clamped and control rats.

Serum insulin concentration per se does not affect islet blood flow, whereas the ambient blood glucose concentration is of major importance in this context.