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Published on: November 11, 2013
Neuromedin U Does Not Act as a Decretin in Rats
Rune Ehrenreich Kuhre1, Charlotte Bayer Christiansen1, Seyed Mojtaba Ghiasi2
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Panum Institute, Blegdamsvej 3B, 12.2, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark; NNF Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Abstract:
Studies on isolated pancreatic islets suggest that neuromedin U (NMU), a brain and gastrointestinal peptide, acts as a decretin hormone, inhibiting glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. We investigated whether this effect could be reproduced in vivo and in isolated perfused rat pancreas. Unlike the incretin hormone, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), intravenous NMU administration had no effects on blood glucose and plasma insulin and glucagon in vivo. Moreover, NMU neither changed insulin, glucagon, or somatostatin secretion from isolated perfused rat pancreas, nor affected GLP-1-stimulated insulin and somatostatin secretion. For NMU to act as a decretin hormone, its secretion should increase following glucose ingestion; however, glucose did not affect NMU secretion from isolated perfused rat small intestine, which contained extractable NMU. Furthermore, the two NMU receptors were not detected in endocrine rat or human pancreas. We conclude that NMU does not act as a decretin hormone in rats.
