The role of prostaglandins as modulators of insulin-stimulated glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle.

Prostaglandins of the E series are known to increase the sensitivity of glucose uptake to insulin in isolated, incubated skeletal muscle of the rat. In the present study the relationships between changes in both insulin sensitivity and prostaglandins E2 metabolism were investigated. Chronic treatment of rats with the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone causes an insulin resistant state in vivo. Also, the sensitivity of glucose metabolism to insulin from normal rats varies over a 24-h period. In both these rat models the sensitivity of glucose metabolism to insulin in isolated skeletal muscle was greatest when the content or rates of release of prostaglandin E2 were highest. These results strongly suggest that changes in PGE2 metabolism can influence the sensitivity of glucose metabolism to insulin in skeletal muscle.