Effect of somatostatin on plasma glucagon and insulin, and glucose turnover in exercising sheep.

To examine the roles of glucagon and insulin in exercise, four sheep were run on a treadmill with and without simultaneous infusion of somatostatin (SRIF), a peptide that suppresses glucagon and insulin secretion. SRIF infusion suppressed the exercise-induced rise in plasma glucagon during both moderate (5--5.5 km/h) and strenuous exercise (7.0 km/h). In addition, SRIF prevented the rise insulin concentrations during moderate exercise. During strenuous exercise, insulin concentrations were depressed in both groups. The infusion of SRIF was associated with a reduction in exercise-induced glucose production, as determined by infusion of [6-3H]glucose, during the first 15 min of both moderate and strenuous exercise compared to controls. Beyond 15 min glucose production was not significantly altered by SRIF infusions. These data are consistent with glucagon having an immediate, but only transient, stimulatory effect on the exercise-induced hepatic glucose production.