Preferential stimulation by D-glucose of oxidative glycolysis in pancreatic islets: comparison between B and non-B cells.

In purified pancreatic islet B cells, a rise in D-glucose concentration from 2.8 to 16.7 mM increased the production of both 14CO2 from D-[3,4-14C]glucose and 3HOH from D-[5-3H]glucose to a much greater relative extent than in purified non-B islet cells. Moreover, the paired ratio between D-[3,4-14C]glucose oxidation and D-[5-3H]glucose utilization was significantly increased, as a result of the rise in hexose concentration, in purified B cells, but not so in purified non-B cells. It is proposed, therefore, that a preferential stimulation by D-glucose of oxidative relative to total glycolysis represents an intrinsic attribute of insulin-producing cells, as distinct from other endocrine islet cells.