Abstract
Growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL) are diabetogenic in humans, but not in rats. We have previously demonstrated that GH, PRL and placental lactogen (PL) stimulates hoth proliferation and insulin production in isolated rat islets in culture. The aim of the present study was to test whether GH influences the function of isolated human islets in culture. Islets were obtained by collagenase digestion of panereatict issue obtained from eight necrokidney donors aged 12 to 58. Groups of 50 islets vere cultured in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 0.5% normal human serum with or without 1 μg/ml hGH. Insulin was measured in the medium during a culture period of 7 or 14 days. The accumulated insulin release varied between 5.4 and 71.1 ng per islet per week. Islets from two donors showed no increase i n response to GH, five showed a modest increase (3.1-7.7 ng) and only one, a 12-year old girl, showed a marked increase (29.9 ng). As the human insulin gene promoter contains a putative GH-responsive element similar to that of the rat genes the variation in responsiveness may be due to an age- and sex-dependent variation in the number of GH and PRL receptors. We are at present measuring the expression of the receptor genes in human islets. In conclusion the results support the hypothesis that the diabetogenic effect of the somatolactogenic hormones in adult man is due to an age-dependent decrease in the responsiveness of the pancreatic β cells to the trophic effect of these hormones.
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Nielsen, J., Moldrup, A., Billestrup, N. et al. THE ROLE OF SOMATOLACTOGENIC HORMONES AND RECEPTORS IN THE GROWTH AND FUNCTION OF THE ENDOCRINE PANCREAS. Pediatr Res 33 (Suppl 5), S76 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199305001-00440
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199305001-00440