Studies on the mechanism of somatostatin action on insulin release. III. Effect of somatostatin on arginine induced release of insulin and glucagon in man and perfused rat pancreas.

In man, 3 mug per kg per 90 min of linear somatostatin significantly inhibited basal as well as arginine induced insulin and glucagon release. One mug per kg per 90 min of somatostatin significantly inhibited basal insulin release but not basal glucagon release or arginine induced insulin and glucagon release. In the perfused rat pancreas, as little as one ng per ml of perfusate of somatostatin significantly inhibited argine induced insulin but not glucagon release, while 10 ng per ml of somatostatin by more than 50 per cent reduced the effect of arginine on insulin and glucagon release. Thus, linear somatostatin seemed to be a slightly more potent inhibitor of insulin than of glucagon release in man and in the perfused rat pancreas.