The interplay between metabolic and cationic events in islet cells: coupling factors and feedback mechanisms.

In the mechanism of glucose-stimulated insulin release, the coupling between glucose metabolism and the remodelling of cationic fluxes in the B-cell apparently represents a multifactorial process involving changes in the generation rate of H+, reducing equivalents and ATP. This process is susceptible to feedback regulatory mechanisms through which primary changes in cationic movements affect glucose metabolism. The interplay between metabolic and ionic events may participate in the rhythmogenesis of bioelectrical and secretory phenomena.