Short-term diabetic hyperglycemia suppresses celiac ganglia neurotransmission, thereby impairing sympathetically mediated glucagon responses.

Short-term hyperglycemia suppresses superior cervical ganglia neurotransmission. If this ganglionic dysfunction also occurs in the islet sympathetic pathway, sympathetically mediated glucagon responses could be impaired. Our objectives were 1) to test for a suppressive effect of 7 days of streptozotocin (STZ) diabetes on celiac ganglia (CG) activation and on neurotransmitter and glucagon responses to preganglionic nerve stimulation, 2) to isolate the defect in the islet sympathetic pathway to the CG itself, and 3) to test for a protective effect of the WLD(S) mutation. We injected saline or nicotine in nondiabetic and STZ-diabetic rats and measured fos mRNA levels in whole CG. We electrically stimulated the preganglionic or postganglionic nerve trunk of the CG in nondiabetic and STZ-diabetic rats and measured portal venous norepinephrine and glucagon responses. We repeated the nicotine and preganglionic nerve stimulation studies in nondiabetic and STZ-diabetic WLD(S) rats. In STZ-diabetic rats, the CG fos response to nicotine was suppressed, and the norepinephrine and glucagon responses to preganglionic nerve stimulation were impaired. In contrast, the norepinephrine and glucagon responses to postganglionic nerve stimulation were normal. The CG fos response to nicotine, and the norepinephrine and glucagon responses to preganglionic nerve stimulation, were normal in STZ-diabetic WLD(S) rats. In conclusion, short-term hyperglycemia's suppressive effect on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors of the CG impairs sympathetically mediated glucagon responses. WLD(S) rats are protected from this dysfunction. The implication is that this CG dysfunction may contribute to the impaired glucagon response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia seen early in type 1 diabetes

Sympathetic innervation of interscapular brown adipose tissue is not a predominant mediator of oxytocin-elicited reductions of body weight and adiposity in male diet-induced obese mice

Previous studies indicate that CNS administration of oxytocin (OT) reduces body weight in high fat diet-induced obese (DIO) rodents by reducing food intake and increasing energy expenditure (EE). We recently demonstrated that hindbrain (fourth ventricular [4V]) administration of OT elicits weight loss and elevates interscapular brown adipose tissue temperature (TIBAT, a surrogate measure of increased EE) in DIO mice. What remains unclear is whether OT-elicited weight loss requires increased sympathetic nervous system (SNS) outflow to IBAT. We hypothesized that OT-induced stimulation of SNS outflow to IBAT contributes to its ability to activate BAT and elicit weight loss in DIO mice. To test this hypothesis, we determined the effect of disrupting SNS activation of IBAT on the ability of 4V OT administration to increase TIBAT and elicit weight loss in DIO mice. We first determined whether bilateral surgical SNS denervation to IBAT was successful as noted by ≥ 60% reduction in IBAT norepinephrine (NE) content in DIO mice. NE content was selectively reduced in IBAT at 1-, 6- and 7-weeks post-denervation by 95.9 ± 2.0, 77.4 ± 12.7 and 93.6 ± 4.6% (P<0.05), respectively and was unchanged in inguinal white adipose tissue, pancreas or liver. We subsequently measured the effects of acute 4V OT (1, 5 µg ≈ 0.99, 4.96 nmol) on TIBAT in DIO mice following sham or bilateral surgical SNS denervation to IBAT. We found that the high dose of 4V OT (5 µg ≈ 4.96 nmol) elevated TIBAT similarly in sham mice as in denervated mice. We subsequently measured the effects of chronic 4V OT (16 nmol/day over 29 days) or vehicle infusions on body weight, adiposity and food intake in DIO mice following sham or bilateral surgical denervation of IBAT. Chronic 4V OT reduced body weight by 5.7 ± 2.23% and 6.6 ± 1.4% in sham and denervated mice (P<0.05), respectively, and this effect was similar between groups (P=NS). OT produced corresponding reductions in whole body fat mass (P<0.05). Together, these findings support the hypothesis that sympathetic innervation of IBAT is not necessary for OT-elicited increases in BAT thermogenesis and reductions of body weight and adiposity in male DIO mice

Islets Have a Lot of Nerve! Or Do They?

The autonomic nervous system influences insulin and glucagon secretion. In this issue, Rodriguez-Diaz et al. (2011) show that mouse and human islets differ in their innervation patterns, yet the effect of neural activation on islet hormone secretion is similar. Key questions raised by this species difference have potential relevance to diabetic therapeutics

Differential impairment of glucagon responses to hypoglycemia, neuroglycopenia, arginine, and carbachol in alloxan-diabetic mice.

To gain insight into the mechanisms responsible for the loss of the glucagon response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetes, glucagon responses to 4 different stimuli were examined over 3 months of diabetes in alloxan-treated mice. At 1, 6, and 12 weeks after alloxan (60 mg/kg), phloridzin (0.1 g/kg) was administered to overnight fasted diabetic mice to match the glucose levels of those in nondiabetic control mice before administration of the acute stimuli. Despite the elevation of baseline glucagon levels produced by the phloridzin treatment, the glucagon responses to insulin (2 U/kg intraperitoneally [IP])-induced hypoglycemia was not impaired at 1 week. However, the response was reduced by greater than 60% after 6 and 12 weeks of diabetes (P <.05). In contrast, the glucagon response to arginine (0.25 g/kg intravenously [IV]) was not reduced after 1, 6, or 12 weeks of diabetes, ruling out a generalized impairment of the A-cell responses. The glucagon response to the neuroglucopenic agent, 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG; 500 mg/kg IV) was impaired, like that to insulin-induced hypoglycemia, after 6 and 12 weeks of diabetes (P <.05), suggesting that supersensitivity to the potential inhibitory effects of exogenous insulin is not the mechanism responsible for the impairment. Finally, the glucagon response to the cholinergic agonist, carbachol (0.53 micromol/kg IV), was not impaired in the diabetic animals, arguing against a defect in the A-cell's responsiveness to autonomic stimulation. The data suggest that the impairment of the glucagon response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia in alloxan diabetic mice is not due to a generalized impairment of A-cell responsiveness, to desensitization by a suppressive action of insulin, or to impairment of the A-cell response to autonomic stimuli. The remaining mechanisms which are likely to explain the late loss of the glucagon response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia include (1) a defect in the A-cell recognition of glucopenic stimuli, or (2) a defect in the autonomic inputs to the A cell that are known to be activated by glucopenic stimuli

Differential impairment of glucagon responses to hypoglycemia, neuroglycopenia, arginine, and carbachol in alloxan-diabetic mice.

To gain insight into the mechanisms responsible for the loss of the glucagon response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetes, glucagon responses to 4 different stimuli were examined over 3 months of diabetes in alloxan-treated mice. At 1, 6, and 12 weeks after alloxan (60 mg/kg), phloridzin (0.1 g/kg) was administered to overnight fasted diabetic mice to match the glucose levels of those in nondiabetic control mice before administration of the acute stimuli. Despite the elevation of baseline glucagon levels produced by the phloridzin treatment, the glucagon responses to insulin (2 U/kg intraperitoneally [IP])-induced hypoglycemia was not impaired at 1 week. However, the response was reduced by greater than 60% after 6 and 12 weeks of diabetes (P &lt;.05). In contrast, the glucagon response to arginine (0.25 g/kg intravenously [IV]) was not reduced after 1, 6, or 12 weeks of diabetes, ruling out a generalized impairment of the A-cell responses. The glucagon response to the neuroglucopenic agent, 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG; 500 mg/kg IV) was impaired, like that to insulin-induced hypoglycemia, after 6 and 12 weeks of diabetes (P &lt;.05), suggesting that supersensitivity to the potential inhibitory effects of exogenous insulin is not the mechanism responsible for the impairment. Finally, the glucagon response to the cholinergic agonist, carbachol (0.53 micromol/kg IV), was not impaired in the diabetic animals, arguing against a defect in the A-cell's responsiveness to autonomic stimulation. The data suggest that the impairment of the glucagon response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia in alloxan diabetic mice is not due to a generalized impairment of A-cell responsiveness, to desensitization by a suppressive action of insulin, or to impairment of the A-cell response to autonomic stimuli. The remaining mechanisms which are likely to explain the late loss of the glucagon response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia include (1) a defect in the A-cell recognition of glucopenic stimuli, or (2) a defect in the autonomic inputs to the A cell that are known to be activated by glucopenic stimuli

Pancreatic Noradrenergic Nerves Are Activated by Neuroglucopenia But Not by Hypotension or Hypoxia in the Dog Evidence for Stress-specific and Regionally Selective Activation of the Sympathetic Nervous System

To determine if acute stress activates pancreatic noradrenergic nerves, pancreatic norepinephrine (NE) output (spillover) was measured in halothane-anesthetized dogs. Central neuroglucopenia, induced by intravenous 2-deoxy-D-glucose (12-DGJ 600 mg/kg + 13.5 mg/kg- &apos; per min&apos;) increased pancreatic NE output from a baseline of 380±100 to 1,490±340 pg/min (A = +1,110±290 pg/min, P &lt; 0.01). Surgical denervation of the pancreas reduced this response by 90 % (A = +120±50 pg/ min, P &lt; 0.01 vs. intact innervation), suggesting that 2-DG activated pancreatic nerves by increasing the central sympathetic outflow to the pancreas rather than by acting directly on nerves within the pancreas itself. These experiments provide the first direct evidence of stress-induced activation of pancreatic noradrenergic nerves in vivo. In contrast, neither hemorrhagic hypotension (50 mmHg) nor hypoxia (6-8 % 02) increased pancreatic NE output (A = +80±110 and-20±60 pg/min, respectively, P &lt; 0.01 vs. neuroglucopenia) despite both producing increases of arterial plasma NE and epinephrine similar to glucopenia. The activation of pancreatic noradrenergic nerves is thus stress specific. Furthermore, because both glucopenia and hypotension increased arterial NE, yet only glucopenia activated pancreatic nerves, it is suggested that a regionally selective pattern of sympathetic activation can be elicited by acute stress, a condition in which sympathetic activation has traditionally been thought to be generalized and nondiscrete