Beta-cell apoptosis is responsible for the development of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in the streptozotocin (STZ) rat model. It has been demonstrated that steroid hormones possess antioxidant and protective antiapoptotic effects in many tissues. The aim of the present study was to investigate the early apoptotic damage induced by STZ in rat pancreas, and the effect of testosterone in preventing apoptosis of pancreatic cells. Intact and castrated adult male Wistar rats were subjected to a unique injection of STZ 60 mg/kg (body weight) in citrate buffer, and the kinetics of apoptosis in cells was assessed. Insulin and glucose were measured by RIA and a glucometer respectively, and in pancreatic tissue by immunohistochemistry. At 6 h after STZ injection, a marked increase in apoptotic cells was detected; however, glucose and insulin serum levels were not significantly different from the controls. The castrated animals presented higher percentages of apoptotic cells (65·75 5·42%) than intact males (20·6 4·38%) and castrated, testosterone-substituted males (30·66 1·38%). The decrease in apoptotic cells induced by testosterone was reversed by the antiandrogen flutamide (67·69 3·45%). The overall results indicate that early apoptotic damage produced by STZ in castrated animals was reversed by testosterone, suggesting that this hormone exerts a natural protective effect in rat pancreas. This effect could help to explain some sexual differences in diabetes mellitus incidence in man, reinforcing the idea that new approaches in steroid hormone therapies should be considered for treatment of this disease.

We investigated short-term in vivo and in vitro effects of streptozotocin (STZ) on pancreatic beta cells. Male Wistar rats were treated with 75 mg/kg STZ, and, after 4 hrs blood glucose and insulin were measured and islet cells were isolated, cultured for 16 hrs, and challenged with 5.6 and 15.6 mM glucose. Treated rats showed hyperglycemia (approximately 14 mM) and a 70% decrease in serum insulin levels as compared with controls. Although insulin secretion by isolated beta cells from STZ-treated rats was reduced by more than 80%, in both glucose concentrations, nerve growth factor (NGF) secretion by the same cells increased 10-fold. Moreover, NGF messenger RNA (mRNA) expression increased by 30% as compared with controls. Similar results were obtained in an in vitro model of islet cells, in which cells were exposed directly to STZ for 1, 2, and 4 hrs and then challenged for 3 hrs with the same glucose concentrations. Our data strongly suggest that an early increase in NGF production and secretion by beta cells could be an endogenous protective response to maintain cell survival and that diabetes mellitus may occur when this mechanism is surpassed.

Pancreatic beta cells contain the enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) that catalyses the biosynthesis of the neurotransmitter g-aminobutyric acid (GABA) [1,2]. Two non-allelic genes probably derived from a common ancestral gene encode GAD. The two GAD isoforms, named GAD65 and GAD67 according to their approximate molecular weight in kDa, share a similar structure, except in the first 95 amino acids [3]. Despite their homology, there are structural and functional differences between them that are reflected by their intracellular compartmentalization and the degree of saturation with the coenzyme pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) [2±4].Although the physiological significance of GAD and GABA in beta-cell function is not entirely clear, the presence of antibodies directed against GAD65 have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus and Stiff-Man Abstract Aims/hypothesis. An isoform of glutamic acid decarboxylase, (GAD)65 has been identified as a pancreatic beta-cell autoantigen in Type I (insulin dependent) diabetes mellitus. We investigated the expression of GAD isoforms among single rat beta cells in culture, under different conditions and the correlation between GAD65 expression and insulin secretion-rate. Results. Independent of culture conditions, 100 % of fresh and cultured beta cells express GAD67. In contrast, considerable heterogeneity in GAD65 expression among single beta cells was observed. After 2 days in culture in 2.6 mmol/l glucose, only 24 % of the beta cells express GAD65. This percentage increases to 39 % in 5.6 mmol/l glucose and to 54 % and 56 % in 11.6 mmol/l and 20.6 mmol/l glucose, respectively. Moreover, reducing glucose concentration from 11.6 to 2.5 mmol/l for 2 days, reduces GAD65 expression by nearly 30 %. After 11 days in culture with 11.6 mmol/l glucose, 50 % of beta cells continue expressing GAD65, this percentage is further increased to nearly 75 % by including either nerve growth factor or dibutyryl cyclic AMP or both in the culture medium. When beta cells are challenged for 1 h with 20.6 mmol/l glucose, 67 % respond forming insulin-immunoplaques. More than two-thirds of insulin-secretors are GAD65-positive, in contrast to only 11 % of the non-secreting cells. Moreover, 87 % of beta cells that have a high insulin secretory rate express GAD65. Conclusion/interpretation. These results show that the most active beta cells, which secrete more insulin, also express GAD65 and that manipulating extracellular glucose may modify the expression of the enzyme and possibly the autoimmune attack in Type I diabetes. [Diabetologia (1999

The functional determinants of the insulinotropic action of α-d-glucose pentaacetate were investigated in rat pancreatic islets. The ester mimicked the effect of nutrient secretagogues by recruiting individual B cells into an active secretory state, stimulating proinsulin biosynthesis, inhibiting86Rb outflow, and augmenting45Ca efflux from prelabeled islets. The secretory response to the ester was suppressed in the absence of Ca2+ and potentiated by theophylline or cytochalasin B. The generation of acetate from the ester apparently played a small role in its insulinotropic action. Thus acetate, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, α-d-galactose pentaacetate, and β-d-galactose pentaacetate all failed to stimulate insulin release. The secretory response to α-d-glucose pentaacetate was reproduced by β-d-glucose pentaacetate and, to a lesser extent, by β-l-glucose pentaacetate. It differed from that evoked by unesterifiedd-glucose by its resistance to 3- O-methyl-d-glucose,d-mannoheptulose, and 2-deoxy-d-glucose. It is concluded that the insulinotropic action of α-d-glucose pentaacetate, although linked to the generation of the hexose from its ester, entails a coupling mechanism that is not identical to that currently implied in the process of glucose-induced insulin release.