Keywords Monosaccharide esters, insulin release.Several monosaccharide esters were recently introduced as new tools in biomedical research. [1]. These esters seem to be able to cross the plasma membrane without requiring the intervention of a specific carrier system. They then undergo intracellular hydrolysis in esterase-catalysed reactions, so that their glucidic moiety becomes readily available for further metabolism or metabolic action [2,3]. The major aim of this brief review is to draw attention to the possible use of some of these esters as new insulinotropic tools in the treatment of such diseases as Type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus, insulinoma or persistent hyperinsulinaemia in childhood. In the treatment of diabetes, they could be used in combination with other insulinotropic agents such as hypoglycaemic sulphonylureas
Experimental findingsEsters of metabolized hexoses, such as a-d-glucose pentaacetate or b-d-glucose pentaacetate, stimulate insulin release from islets incubated either in the absence of any exogenous nutrient or in the presence of such nutrient secretagogues as d-glucose and l-leucine [47] or, as shown in Figure 1, the dimethyl ester of succinic acid (SAD). Unexpectedly, however, some esters of non-metabolized hexoses, such as a-l-glucose pentaacetate and b-l-glucose pentaacetate also show positive insulinotropic action, the most obvious effect being in islets exposed to another nutrient secretagogue, e. g. l-leucine or the dimethyl ester of succinic acid (Fig. 1). Even more surprisingly, monosaccharide esters that inhibit d-glucose metabolism (such as d-mannoheptulose hexaacetate or 2-deoxy-d-glucose tetraacetate) and suppress d-glucose-stimulated insulin release [48, 49], were found to enhance the beta cell secretory response to non-glucidic nutrients, e. g. the dimethyl ester of succinic acid (Fig. 1). When tested in suitably low concentrations, the tetraacetate esters of 2-deoxy-d-glucose even enhance insulin release stimulated by d-glucose [49].Detailed investigations on the metabolic fate of bl-glucose pentaacetate in isolated pancreatic islets and its effects on variables such as protein biosynthesis, cyclic AMP formation, generation of inositol phosphates, intracellular pH, 86 Rb efflux and bioelectrical activity, 45 Ca net uptake and efflux, cytosolic Ca 2+ concentration and insulin release suggest that the esters of non-metabolized monosaccharides with positive insulinotropic action may directly interact with a receptor system, resulting in a decrease in K + conductance, plasma membrane depolarization and induction of electrical activity [50]. This model is thought to have analogies with the recognition of bitter compounds by taste buds [51]. Purified islet beta cells indeed contain the a-gustducin G-protein involved in this recognition process (unpublished observation).The findings mentioned above also raise the idea that some monosaccharide esters, especially those of l-glucose, can be used as insulinotropic tools to stimulate insulin release in Type ...