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Updated: Mar 29, 2026

A Method for Mouse Pancreatic Islet Isolation and Intracellular cAMP Determination
Published on: June 25, 2014
Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist exenatide has no acute effect on MRI-measured exocrine pancreatic function
M M Smits1, L Tonneijck1, M H A Muskiet1
1Diabetes Centre, Department of Internal Medicine, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Aims:
To investigate the effect of infusion of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist exenatide on exocrine pancreatic function.
Methods:
This was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study in 12 male patients with type 2 diabetes, treated with oral glucose-lowering agents. On two separate occasions, exenatide or placebo (saline 0.9%) were administered intravenously, in randomized order. Exocrine pancreatic function was measured using secretin-enhanced magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography. The primary outcome measure was defined as secretin-stimulated pancreatic excretion volume. Secondary outcome measures were maximum secretion speed and the time to reach this maximum. In addition, changes in pancreatic duct (PD) diameter were measured.
Results:
Exenatide did not change secretin-stimulated pancreatic excretion volume, as compared with placebo (mean ± standard error of the mean 142.2 ± 15.6 ml vs 142.6 ± 8.5 ml, respectively; p = 0.590). Also, exenatide did not change the maximum secretion speed (33.1 ± 1.4 vs 36.9 ± 2.2; p = 0.221), nor the time to reach this maximum (both 4 min 30 s). No differences in PD diameter were observed between the two groups.
Conclusions:
Infusion of exenatide did not directly influence MRI-measured exocrine pancreatic excretion in patients with type 2 diabetes. Although long-term studies are warranted, these findings suggest that potential adverse pancreatic effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists are not mediated by changes in exocrine pancreatic secretion.
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