Identification of insulin in rat brain.

Insulin concentrations in acid/ethanol extracts of the whole rat brain were on the average 25 times higher than plasma insulin levels. Brain insulin was indistinguishable from authentic pancreatic insulin, based on its behavior in radioimmunoassay, radioreceptor assay, and bioassay and its chromatographic pattern on Sephadex G-50 column chromatography. Insulin was found in all regions of the brain examined, but distribution was uneven. Some regions had insulin concentrations as much as 100 times higher than in plasma; levels at least 10 times higher were found in other regions. The role of insulin in the central nervous system is not clear at present but, because both insulin and insulin receptors are abundant in the central nervous system, an extensive physiological regulation of the central nervous system by insulin is proposed.