Somatostatin concentration and binding in the rat hypothalamus and striatum during severe insulin-induced hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemia was induced by administration of insulin (40 I.U./kg) to 24 h fasted rats. Somatostatin-like immunoreactivity (SLI) and 125I-Tyr11-somatostatin binding were measured in the striatum and hypothalamus at the onset of hypoglycemic coma (5-10 min). No significant changes in SLI concentration were detected in either site although the total number of specific somatostatin receptors in the striatum membranes, but not in the hypothalamus, decreased in insulin-injected rats when compared with the control group.