Evidence that muscarinic potentiation of insulin release is initiated by an early transient calcium entry.

The increased insulin release induced by carbamoylcholine (CbCh) in pancreatic islets requires the presence of extracellular Ca2+. Intracellular recordings demonstrate that CbCh produces a transient increase in Ca2+ channel activity lasting from 30 to 60 s. Thereafter activity decreased to levels lower than in controls. When extracellular Ca2+ was present during this initial period, the stimulatory effects of CbCh were not different from those in which Ca2+ was present throughout. These experiments suggest that during muscarinic potentiation of insulin release extracellular calcium is only needed in the first minute.