Isolated mouse islets respond to glucose with an initial peak of glucagon release followed by pulses of insulin and somatostatin in antisynchrony with glucagon

Recent studies of isolated human islets have shown that glucose induces hormone release with repetitive pulses of insulin and somatostatin in antisynchrony with those of glucagon. Since the mouse is the most important animal model we studied the temporal relation between hormones released from mouse islets. Batches of 5–10 islets were perifused and the hormones measured with radioimmunoassay in 30 s fractions. At 3 mM glucose, hormone secretion was stable with no detectable pulses of glucagon, insulin or somatostatin. Increase of glucose to 20 mM resulted in an early secretory phase with a glucagon peak followed by peaks of insulin and somatostatin. Subsequent hormone secretion was pulsatile with a periodicity of 5 min. Cross-correlation analyses showed that the glucagon pulses were antisynchronous to those of insulin and somatostatin. In contrast to the marked stimulation of insulin and somatostatin secretion, the pulsatility resulted in inhibition of overall glucagon release. The cytoarchitecture of mouse islets differs from that of human islets, which may affect the interactions between the hormone-producing cells. Although indicating that paracrine regulation is important for the characteristic patterns of pulsatile hormone secretion, the mouse data mimic those of human islets with more than 20-fold variations of the insulin/glucagon ratio. The data indicate that the mouse serves as an appropriate animal model for studying the temporal relation between the islet hormones controlling glucose production in the liver.

► Dynamics of glucose-induced islet hormone release involves an initial glucagon peak.
► Glucose generates glucagon pulses antisynchronous with insulin and somatostatin.
► Temporal relation between pulses of islet hormone release is similar in mice and man.
► Mice are useful models for studying islet control of hepatic glucose production.