Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) [7-36 amide] is an insulinotropic hormone secreted from enteroglucagon-producing L cells in the lower gut, i. e. the ileum and colon/rectum [1,2]. , together with gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) from the upper gut, acts as a physiological incretin hormone [3,4]. In pharmacological concentrations, exogenous GLP-1 [7-36 amide or 7-37] also raised insulin and lowered glucagon concentrations in Diabetologia (1996) Summary Intravenous glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 [7-36 amide] can normalize plasma glucose in noninsulin-dependent diabetic (NIDDM) patients. Since this is no form for routine therapeutic administration, effects of subcutaneous GLP-1 at a high dose (1.5 nmol/kg body weight) were examined. Three groups of 8, 9 and 7 patients (61 ± 7, 61 ± 9, 50 ± 11 years; BMI 29.5 ± 2.5, 26.1 ± 2.3, 28.0 ± 4.2 kg/m 2 ; HbA 1 c 11.3 ± 1.5, 9.9 ± 1.0, 10.6 ± 0.7 %) were examined: after a single subcutaneous injection of 1.5 nmol/kg GLP [7-36 amide]; after repeated subcutaneous injections (0 and 120 min) in fasting patients; after a single, subcutaneous injection 30 min before a liquid test meal (amino acids 8 %, and sucrose 50 g in 400 ml), all compared with a placebo. Glucose (glucose oxidase), insulin, C-peptide, GLP-1 and glucagon (specific immunoassays) were measured. Gastric emptying was assessed with the indicator-dilution method and phenol red. Repeated measures ANO-VA was used for statistical analysis. GLP-1 injection led to a short-lived increment in GLP-1 concentrations (peak at 30-60 min, then return to basal levels after 90-120 min). Each GLP-1 injection stimulated insulin (insulin, C-peptide, p < 0.0001, respectively) and inhibited glucagon secretion (p < 0.0001). In fasting patients the repeated administration of GLP-1 normalized plasma glucose (5.8 ± 0.4 mmol/l after 240 min vs 8.2 ± 0.7 mmol/l after a single dose, p = 0.0065). With the meal, subcutaneous GLP-1 led to a complete cessation of gastric emptying for 30-45 min (p < 0.0001 statistically different from placebo) followed by emptying at a normal rate. As a consequence, integrated incremental glucose responses were reduced by 40 % (p = 0.051). In conclusion, subcutaneous GLP-1 [7-36 amide] has similar effects in NIDDM patients as an intravenous infusion. Preparations with retarded release of GLP-1 would appear more suitable for therapeutic purposes because elevation of GLP-1 concentrations for 4 rather than 2 h (repeated doses) normalized fasting plasma glucose better. In the short term, there appears to be no tachyphylaxis, since insulin stimulation and glucagon suppression were similar upon repeated administrations of . It may be easier to influence fasting hyperglycaemia by GLP-1 than to reduce meal-related increments in glycaemia. [Diabetologia (1996[Diabetologia ( ) 39: 1546[Diabetologia ( -1553 Keywords GLP-1 [7-36 amide], incretin, insulin, glucagon, pharmacokinetics.Corresponding author: Priv.-Doz. Dr. med. M. Nauck, Department of Medicine, Ruhr-University Bochum, KnappschaftsKrankenhaus, In der Schornau ...

Age-related change in episodic memory function is commonly reported in older adults. When detected on neuropsychological tests, it may still be difficult to distinguish normal from pathological changes. The present study investigates age-and sex-related changes in a group of healthy middle-aged and older adults, participating in a three-wave study on cognitive aging. The California Verbal Learning test (CVLT-II) was used to assess their episodic memory function. A cross-sectional analysis of results from the first wave showed higher performance in females than males, with a steeper age-related decline in males. This was confirmed in a longitudinal analysis using a mixed effects regression model, but with a lower age-related change and smaller difference between the sexes. Information about learning strategies and errors in the third wave turned out to contribute significantly to explain change in episodic memory function across the three waves. We argue that the results from the longitudinal analyses are generalizable to the population of healthy middle-aged and older individuals, and that they could be useful in guiding clinicians when evaluating individuals with respect to cognitive change.

The chromatic appearance of a surface depends on its surrounding scene. A variety of mechanisms have been proposed to account for such phenomena, ranging from low-level gain control or adaptation processes that adjust for such properties as a scene's chromatic mean and covariance structure, to higher-level computations that compensate for the chromatic content of the illuminant. Despite their differences, a shared prediction of all such processes is that color induction should be limited to a full discounting of the surround or illuminant color--that is, an opponent color shift equal in magnitude to the chromatic bias of the surround or illuminant. Here, we report new forms of chromatic induction that can be significantly larger than predicted by all such models. We show that when the geometric and chromatic relationships between a target and its surround support a decomposition of an image into multiple layers, the induced color can significantly exceed the full discounting prediction. Similar phenomena are also observed with achromatic stimuli, suggesting that common processes of perceptual decomposition are involved in both forms of induction. These results demonstrate that information about the geometric and photometric relationship between a target and its surround is utilized by the mechanisms involved in color induction.