Plasma responses of pancreatic polypeptide, glucagon and insulin in normal and alloxan diabetic dogs, and their regional levels in the pancreas.

The plasma responses of pancreatic polypeptide (PP), glucagon (IRG) and insulin (IRI) after administration of beef soup were studied in normal and alloxan diabetic dogs kept in a poor metabolic state for 4 weeks, and their regional levels in the pancreas were determined and compared at the uncinate process, head, body and tail. The plasma PP levels of the diabetic dogs were significantly higher than those of the normal dogs and they increased after beef soup administration in both groups. The plasma IRG levels did not change significantly after beef soup administration in either group, but significantly high levels were found in the diabetic dogs. The IRI content in the normal dog pancreas was highest at the tail, followed in order by the body, head and uncinate process, and was decreased to about one-tenth to one-fortieth in the alloxan diabetic dogs. On the other hand, the amounts of PP in the pancreas of both normal and diabetic dogs were greatest at the uncinate process, followed in order by the head, body and tail. In an inverse relationship with the PP findings, the IRG content in the pancreas was highest at the tail and lowest at the uncinate process in both kinds of dogs. The differences in both PP and IRG between diabetic and normal dogs were generally not significant. These results show that irrespective of the high plasma levels of PP and IRG in the diabetic dogs, their levels in the pancreas did not change significantly.