Seasonal effect of catecholamines on glucose-induced insulin secretion in the edible dormouse (Glis glis L.): in vivo and in vitro studies.

The results of the present study support the view that catecholamines are important for insulin secretion during the annual cycle of the edible dormouse exposed to seasonal changes in southwest France. Glucose tolerance tests and perfusion of the isolated pancreas have shown that in spring and summer, the B cell secretion mechanism is less sensitive to glucose than in other seasons. In spring and summer, insulin secretion induced by glucose is enhanced after in vivo and in vitro phentolamine treatment. The autumn and winter control insulin levels were not modified by phentolamine treatment. These results indicate that the inhibition of insulin secretion in spring and summer is due to noradrenaline liberated at the nerve endings adjacent to the B cells rather than to circulating catecholamines. This seasonal effect of noradrenaline may be attributed either to seasonal changes in the sensitivity of the alpha-adrenergic receptors of B cells or to an increase in noradrenaline release at the nerve endings in the islet during spring and summer.