Pancreatic neuroendocrine responses to butyrate in conscious sheep

The role of the autonomic innervation in the control of pancreatic endocrine responses to I.V. infusions of butyrate (0.02 mmol kg-1 min-1 for 10 min) has been investigated in conscious 4-6 month old weaned lambs. Intravenous butyrate produced a small rise in mean arterial plasma pancreatic glucagon concentration which was unlikely to have had any physiological effect and produced no consistent or statistically significant changes in mean plasma pancreatic polypeptide concentration in any of the groups studied. In contrast, butyrate produced an abrupt and substantial rise in mean plasma insulin concentration, which rose to a peak incremental value of about 300 pmol l-1 in normal control lambs. This response was unaffected by pre-treatment with either phentolamine or propranolol alone, but was significantly reduced by simultaneous administration of these drugs, as it was either by pre-treatment with atropine or prior section of the splanchnic nerves. The rise in mean plasma insulin concentration was inhibited most effectively by combined treatment with propranolol, phentolamine and atropine, which was significantly more effective than administration of atropine to lambs with cut splanchnic nerves (P less than 0.01). It is concluded that both divisions of the autonomic nervous system are likely to be involved in mediating the release of insulin from the pancreas, in response to butyrate, in this species under these experimental conditions and also in the resting state.