Glucagon-like polypeptide and insulin contents in the brain from acute hepatic failure dogs.

Insulin contents in the thalamus-hypothalamus were significantly increased in acute hepatic failure dogs treated with dimethylnitrosamine. Glucagon immunoreactivity (GI) contents also tended to increase in the same portion of the brain. However, insulin and GI contents in the cerebral cortex and midbrain did not rise. Glucagon-like immunoreactivity (GLI) contents were much higher than GI in all the brain regions tested, but the levels were not significantly altered in hepatic failure dogs. A simultaneous infusion of insulin and glucagon to hepatic failure dogs failed to produce an elevation of insulin, GI and GLI contents even in the thalamus-hypothalamus.