Ca2+ deficiency, selective alpha-glucosidehydrolase inhibition, and insulin secretion

We investigated the relation between activities of islet glycogenolytic alpha-glucosidehydrolases and insulin secretion induced by glucose and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX) by means of suppressing 1) insulin release (Ca2+ deficiency) and 2) islet alpha-glucosidehydrolase activity (selective inhibition by the deoxynojirimycin derivative miglitol). Additionally, the in vivo insulin response to both secretagogues was examined. We observed that, similar to glucose-induced insulin release, islet glycogenolytic hydrolases (acid amyloglucosidase, acid alpha-glucosidase) were highly Ca2+ dependent. Acid phosphatase, N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase, or neutral alpha-glucosidase (endoplasmic reticulum) was not influenced by Ca2+ deficiency. In Ca2+ deficiency IBMX-induced insulin release was unaffected and was accompanied by reduced activities of islet alpha-glucosidehydrolases. Miglitol strongly inhibited glucose-induced insulin release concomitant with a marked suppression of islet alpha-glucosidehydrolase activities. Direct addition of miglitol to islet homogenates suppressed acid amyloglucosidase [half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) approximately 10(-6) M] and acid alpha-glucosidase. Acid phosphatase and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase were unaffected. The miglitol-induced inhibition of glucose-stimulated insulin release was dose dependent (EC50 approximately 10(-6) M) and displayed a remarkable parallelism with the inhibition curve for acid amyloglucosidase. The in vivo insulin secretory response to glucose was markedly reduced in dystrophic mice (low amyloglucosidase), whereas the response to IBMX was unaffected. In summary, islet glycogenolytic hydrolases are Ca2+ dependent, and acid amyloglucosidase is directly involved in the multifactorial process of glucose-induced insulin release. In contrast the mechanisms of IBMX-stimulated insulin secretion operate independently of these enzymes. The effects of miglitol, a drug currently used in diabetes therapy, deserves further investigation.