Autonomic neural control mechanisms of substrate and hormonal responses to acute hypoglycaemia in man

Minireview: Glucagon in the pathogenesis of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia in diabetes

Pancreatic islet α-cell glucagon secretion is critically dependent on pancreatic islet β-cell insulin secretion. Normally, a decrease in the plasma glucose concentration causes a decrease in β-cell insulin secretion that signals an increase in α-cell glucagon secretion during hypoglycemia. In contrast, an increase in the plasma glucose concentration, among other stimuli, causes an increase in β-cell insulin secretion that signals a decrease, or at least no change, in α-cell glucagon secretion after a meal. In absolute endogenous insulin deficiency (i.e. in type 1 diabetes and in advanced type 2 diabetes), however, β-cell failure results in no decrease in β-cell insulin secretion and thus no increase in α-cell glucagon secretion during hypoglycemia and no increase in β-cell insulin secretion and thus an increase in α-cell glucagon secretion after a meal. In type 1 diabetes and advanced type 2 diabetes, the absence of an increment in glucagon secretion, in the setting of an absent decrement in insulin secretion and an attenuated increment in sympathoadrenal activity, in response to falling plasma glucose concentrations plays a key role in the pathogenesis of iatrogenic hypoglycemia. In addition, there is increasing evidence that, in the aggregate, suggests that relative hyperglucagonemia, in the setting of deficient insulin secretion, plays a role in the pathogenesis of hyperglycemia in diabetes. If so, abnormal glucagon secretion is involved in the pathogenesis of both hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia in diabetes.

Effects of antecedent prolonged exercise on subsequent counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia

In the present study the hypothesis tested was that prior exercise may blunt counterregulatory responses to subsequent hypoglycemia. Healthy subjects [15 females (f)/15 males (m), age 27 +/- 1 yr, body mass index 22 +/- 1 kg/m(2), hemoglobin A(Ic) 5.6 +/- 0.5%] were studied during 2-day experiments. Day 1 involved either 90-min morning and afternoon cycle exercise at 50% maximal O2 uptake (VO2(max)) (priorEXE, n = 16, 8 m/8 f) or equivalent rest periods (priorREST, n = 14, 7 m/7 f). Day 2 consisted of a 2-h hypoglycemic clamp in all subjects. Endogenous glucose production (EGP) was measured using [3-3H]glucose. Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) was measured using microneurography. Day 2 insulin (87 +/- 6 microU/ml) and plasma glucose levels (54 +/- 2 mg/dl) were equivalent after priorEXE and priorREST. Significant blunting (P < 0.01) of day 2 norepinephrine (-30 +/- 4%), epinephrine (-37 +/- 6%), glucagon (-60 +/- 4%), growth hormone (-61 +/- 5%), pancreatic polypeptide (-47 +/- 4%), and MSNA (-90 +/- 8%) responses to hypoglycemia occurred after priorEXE vs. priorREST. EGP during day 2 hypoglycemia was also suppressed significantly (P < 0.01) after priorEXE compared with priorREST. In summary, two bouts of exercise (90 min at 50% VO2(max)) significantly reduced glucagon, catecholamines, growth hormone, pancreatic polypeptide, and EGP responses to subsequent hypoglycemia. We conclude that, in normal humans, antecedent prolonged moderate exercise blunts neuroendocrine and metabolic counterregulatory responses to subsequent hypoglycemia.

Peripheral afferent stimulation of decentralized sympathetic neurons activates lipolysis in spinal cord-injured subjects

Spinal cord-injured (SCI) subjects exhibit a normal lipolytic rate despite the failure of centrally mediated sympathoexcitatory stimuli to activate lipolysis. Peripheral afferent stimulation below the lesion level induces an exaggerated autonomic reaction in SCI with lesion levels above T5, ie, so-called autonomic dysreflexia. The metabolic effects of induced dysreflexia were investigated in five SCI subjects (age, 35 +/- 8 years; duration of paresis, 15 +/- 7.5 years [mean +/- SD]; lesion level, T3 to T4, n = 2, C7, n = 3) following bladder stimulation. Subcutaneous glycerol concentrations were measured by microdialysis above and below the lesion level. Diurnal plasma noradrenaline (NA) and adrenaline levels were continuously monitored in seven SCI subjects (lesion level T3 to T4, n = 2; C4 to C7, n = 5). Bladder stimulation resulted in an increased mean arterial pressure ([MAP] 81 +/- 8 to 114 +/- 11 mm Hg, P < .05), a decreased heart rate (70 +/- 3 to 54 +/- 4 beats/min, P < .05), and an increased plasma NA (0.70 +/- 0.49 v 3.27 +/- 1.56 nmol/L, P < .05). Interstitial glycerol was increased in the decentralized region (89 +/- 12 to 135 +/- 21 mumol/L, P < .05), whereas no reaction was found in the centrally innervated region. Plasma concentrations of glycerol and insulin increased. Diurnal monitoring showed periods of increased plasma NA sufficient to induce lipolysis (> 1.4 nmol/L) during 20% of the registration period. The data suggest that peripheral afferent stimulation below the lesion level increases NA release and activates lipolysis and that frequent episodes of activation are found in SCI subjects with tetraplegia or high paraplegia.

Effects of hyperinsulinemia on the subsequent hormonal response to hypoglycemia in conscious dogs

The aim of this study was to determine if differing periods of prior hyperinsulinemic nonhypoglycemia can modify the subsequent counterregulatory response to hypoglycemia. Experiments were carried out on 19 normal 18-h fasted conscious dogs. Insulin was infused intraportally at 8 mU.kg-1.min-1 for 3 h on two occasions and 3.5 h on a third separate occasion. This resulted in similar steady-state arterial insulin levels during each protocol (4,370 +/- 433 pmol/l). Each animal was maintained at a similar plasma glucose nadir (2.8 +/- 0.6 mmol/l) for 2 or 2.5h, depending on the protocol. In protocol I (n = 7) plasma glucose was allowed to fall to the desired hypoglycemic plateau by 30 min. In a second group of dogs (protocol II, n = 5) there was a 30-min period of euglycemic hyperinsulinemia followed by a 30-min fall (similar to protocol I) in plasma glucose. In a third group of dogs (protocol III, n = 7), there was an initial 15-min period of euglycemic hyperinsulinemia followed by a 45-min fall in plasma glucose. Differing periods of euglycemic hyperinsulinemia had distinct effects on subsequent counterregulation. During the final 2 h of hypoglycemia the incremental area under the curve (AUC) for glucagon was significantly greater in protocol I vs. II (3.0 +/- 1.0, -0.5 +/- 0.2 micrograms.l-1.min-1, P < 0.02, respectively). Conversely, catecholamine levels were increased in protocol II (30 min prior hyperinsulinemic euglycemia) compared with protocol I (epinephrine 1,448 +/- 268, 855 +/- 119 nmol.l-1.min-1; norepinephrine 244 +/- 30, 166 +/- 23 nmol.l-1.min-1, respectively, P < 0.05). During protocol III, glucagon and catecholamine levels were intermediate between protocols I (no euglycemic hyperinsulinemia) and II (30 min euglycemic hyperinsulinemia).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

An analysis of the glucagon response to hypoglycaemia in patients with type 1 diabetes and in healthy subjects

The study aimed to analyse the glucagon response during hypoglycaemia in relation to gender, level of hypoglycaemia, and hyperinsulinaemia as well as its relation to other counterregulatory hormones in patients with Type 1 diabetes and in nondiabetic subjects. Mild hypoglycaemia was induced by an i.v. insulin infusion (244 pmol kg-1h-1) for 180 min in 43 Type 1 diabetic patients and 22 nondiabetic subjects. Venous blood glucose, plasma free insulin, glucagon, adrenaline, noradrenaline, growth hormone, and cortisol were measured every 15-30 min. The hormonal responses during hypoglycaemia were evaluated from the incremental areas under their respective curves. There was a linear correlation between the glucagon response and the decremental area of blood glucose (p < 0.005), but the slope of the regression line in the diabetic group was less steep than in the controls (p < 0.5), and, in spite of the deeper hypoglycaemia in the diabetic groups, their glucagon response was diminished (p < 0.05). Plasma, adrenaline, growth hormone and cortisol all increased during hypoglycaemia. The glucagon response correlated with the responses of growth hormone and cortisol in both groups, while it was positively correlated with the adrenaline response (p < 0.001) and inversely with the plasma insulin (p < 0.001) only in the diabetic patients. Although the insulin infusion rate was identical, the female diabetic patients had a lower metabolic clearance rate of insulin as compared with the males (p < 0.05). There was no statistical difference in the counterregulatory hormone responses between males and females in neither of the groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Pancreatic and pituitary hormonal responses to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia during muscarinic cholinergic blockade in man

To investigate the role of muscarinic cholinergic mechanisms in mediating the pancreatic and pituitary hormonal responses to hypoglycaemia, six normal subjects were studied during acute insulin-induced hypoglycaemia under control conditions, and during blockade with intravenous atropine. During atropine blockade the response of pancreatic polypeptide was suppressed while the maximum response of plasma glucagon was significantly higher. The increment in plasma vasopressin was also increased significantly during cholinergic blockade. During blockade with atropine the responses of plasma prolactin was reduced, with a slight but significant reduction in the growth hormone response, and although a similar maximum response of plasma ACTH was achieved, this rise was delayed. These results implicate involvement of a cholinergic muscarinic inhibitory and stimulatory mechanisms in regulating the responses of pancreatic and pituitary hormones to hypoglycaemia.

Unawareness of hypoglycaemia in insulin-treated diabetic patients: prevalence and relationship to autonomic neuropathy

Three-hundred and two insulin-treated diabetic patients were questioned about hypoglycaemia using a structured questionnaire interview. Two-hundred and twenty-six patients (75%) had normal symptomatic awareness, 48 (16%) had partial awareness, 21 (7%) had absent awareness of hypoglycaemia, and 7 (2%) denied ever experiencing hypoglycaemia. Patients with complete loss of awareness of hypoglycaemia had diabetes of longer duration; none had a HbA1 concentration within the non-diabetic range. Loss of awareness of hypoglycaemia was associated with an increased incidence of severe hypoglycaemia, 19 (91%) of the patients with absent awareness, and 33 (69%) with partial awareness of hypoglycaemia experiencing severe hypoglycaemia over 1 year compared with only 41 (18%) of patients with normal awareness of hypoglycaemia (p less than 0.001). Cardiovascular autonomic function tests were performed in 226 (75% of the whole group). Of the patients who had diabetes for more than 15 years, 54% (n = 39) with normal awareness of hypoglycaemia, compared with 59% (n = 10) with absent awareness of hypoglycaemia, had evidence of cardiovascular autonomic impairment (NS). Seven (41%) of the 17 patients with absent awareness of hypoglycaemia and diabetes of greater than 15 years duration had no evidence of autonomic dysfunction. Loss of hypoglycaemia awareness is a common problem in patients with insulin-treated diabetes of long duration, is associated with an increased incidence of severe hypoglycaemia, but is not invariably associated with abnormal cardiovascular autonomic function tests.

Effects of acute sodium salicylate on the abnormal counterregulatory glucagon and epinephrine responses to insulin hypoglycemia in diabetic rats

Effects of acute sodium salicylate infusion on glucagon and epinephrine responses to insulin hypoglycemia were studied in streptozotocin diabetic and age-matched control rats. Sodium salicylate (50 mg/kg/h) was infused intravenously alone for 90 minutes and then with insulin in short-term (10-15 days post-streptozotocin) and long-term (80-100 days post-streptozotocin) diabetic as well as age-matched control rats to produce hypoglycemia. Sodium salicylate decreased basal plasma glucose in control and diabetic rats but increased basal plasma glucagon levels only in control rats. The infusion of sodium salicylate during insulin-hypoglycemia in control and short-term diabetic rats caused a significant increase in glucagon secretion. Long-term diabetic rats have impaired glucagon and epinephrine secretory responses to insulin-hypoglycemia. This defect was normalized by acute sodium salicylate infusion during insulin-hypoglycemia. However, indomethacin (5 mg/kg i.p.; twice at 18 hr intervals) improved, but failed to completely normalize the abnormal glucagon and epinephrine secretory responses to insulin-hypoglycemia in long-term diabetic rats. These results suggest that endogenous prostaglandins may play a partial role in the impairment of glucagon and epinephrine secretion in response to insulin-hypoglycemia in long-term diabetic rats.

Direct muscarinic cholinergic inhibition of hepatic glucose production in humans

To explore the potential role of the parasympathetic nervous system in human glucoregulatory physiology, responses to the muscarinic cholinergic agonist bethanechol (5.0 mg s.c.) and antagonist atropine (1.0 mg i.v.) were measured in normal humans. There were no changes in the plasma glucose concentration or rates of glucose production or utilization following atropine administration. After bethanechol administration there were no changes in the plasma glucose concentration or fluxes despite increments in plasma glucagon (75 +/- 7 to 103 +/- 10 pg/ml, P less than 0.02). There were no changes in insulin or C-peptide levels. To test the hypothesis that direct muscarinic inhibition of glucose production was offset by an indirect action of the agonist, specifically increased glucagon secretion with consequent stimulation of glucose production, bethanechol was administered while glucagon levels were held constant with the islet clamp technique (somatostatin infusion with insulin, glucagon and growth hormone replacement at fixed rates). Under that condition the muscarinic agonist induced a 25% decrement in the plasma glucose concentration (101 +/- 8 to 75 +/- 8 mg/dl, P less than 0.05). When compared with separate clamp control studies (with placebo rather than bethanechol injection) both the rate of glucose production and the glucose concentration were reduced (P less than 0.05) following bethanechol injection; the rate of glucose utilization was unaltered. Thus, we conclude: Withdrawal of parasympathetic tone does not appear to be an important glucoregulatory process in humans. Direct muscarinic cholinergic inhibition of hepatic glucose production occurs in humans but during generalized muscarinic activation this is offset by an indirect muscarinic action, increased glucagon secretion with consequent stimulation of glucose production. Thus, particularly if regional neuronal firing occurs, the parasympathetic nervous system may play an important role in human glucoregulatory physiology.

Hypoglycemia during adrenergic beta-blockade: evidence against mediation via a deficiency of lactate for gluconeogenesis

Acute hypoglycemia was induced using intravenous inulin in three groups of normal volunteers: (1) seventeen control subjects, (2) six subjects under beta-adrenergic blockade with propranolol, and (3) eight subjects given propranolol plus sodium lactate as an exogenous substrate for gluconeogenesis. Under propranolol blockade the recovery from hypoglycemia was significantly impaired. This impairment was not prevented by the infusion of sodium lactate despite the production of an adequate elevation of blood lactate concentrations. These findings suggest that the impaired recovery from hypoglycemia during beta-adrenergic blockade is not mediated via a deficiency of lactate as substrate for hepatic gluconeogenesis.

Role of parasympathetic nervous system in glucagon response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia in normal and diabetic rats

Effects of cholinergic mechanisms on glucagon and epinephrine responses to insulin-induced hypoglycemia were examined in diabetic and age-matched control male rats. Atropine did not affect plasma glucose levels or plasma glucagon concentrations, in the basal state, in normal or short-term diabetic rats (10 to 15 days following streptozotocin injection). However, atropine blocked the glucagon response to insulin hypoglycemia in both normal and short-term diabetic rats. Subcutaneous injection of carbachol also failed to alter basal plasma glucose, glucagon, or epinephrine values in both normal and diabetic rats. The lack of glucagon and epinephrine responses to insulin hypoglycemia in long-term diabetic rats (80 to 100 days after streptozotocin injection) was reversed with a single dose of carbachol. Carbachol exaggerated the glucagon response to insulin hypoglycemia in normal and short-term diabetic rats. These results demonstrate that the parasympathetic nervus system plays an important role in the glucagon release in response to insulin hypoglycemia in rats. The lack of glucagon response to insulin hypoglycemia observed in long-term diabetic rats could be due to deteriorated parasympathetic nervous system and also could be corrected with carbachol.

The influence of adrenergic denervation on the response to feeding of the gastroenteropancreatic system in man

The effect of adrenergic denervation on the metabolic and hormonal response to a standard meal was studied in six tetraplegic subjects (pre-ganglionic sympathectomy) and compared with six normal subjects. Gastric emptying, estimated by isotope scintiscanning, was similar in both groups. Following the meal the mean blood glucose and plasma insulin rose in both groups, but were higher and remained elevated for longer in the tetraplegic subjects. There were no significant differences in the secretion of pancreatic glucagon, enteroglucagon, gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP) and neurotensin between the two groups. The mean basal and post-prandial levels of pancreatic polypeptide and motilin were significantly higher in the tetraplegic group. This study confirms the presence of mild glucose intolerance in tetraplegic subjects which is not explicable on the basis of abnormal insulin or pancreatic glucagon secretion or abnormal gastric emptying. In addition the results provide evidence for a sympathetic inhibitory influence on the secretion of pancreatic polypeptide and motilin in man, which is probably adrenergically-mediated.

Peripheral blood cell changes in response to acute hypoglycaemia in man

Peripheral white and red blood cell changes were studied in response to acute insulin-induced hypoglycaemia in six normal, six splenectomized and five sympathectomized (tetraplegic) subjects. The normal subjects were restudied during beta (propranolol) and beta 1-selective (metoprolol) adrenergic blockade. In the normal subjects a lymphocytosis immediately followed the acute hypoglycaemic reaction (R) with a neutrophilia 2 h later. The early lymphocytosis was absent in sympathectomized subjects (P less than 0.001) and reduced under beta blockade (P less than 0.02) in normal subjects, indicating mediation via an adrenergic mechanism. The later neutrophilia from R + 60 min was not abolished by adrenergic blockade or preceding sympathectomy; the enhanced response with propranolol was associated with an elevated plasma cortisol. Haemoglobin, packed cell volume and total erythrocyte count rose maximally at R in all groups except the sympathectomized subjects in whom all parameters declined progressively from basal values. These peripheral erythrocytes changes appear to be mediated via an adrenergic mechanism which is unaffected by beta adrenergic blockade and which does not involve splenic contraction.

The effect of adrenergic and cholinergic mechanisms on the secretion of pancreatic polypeptide and gastrin following hypoglycaemia in man

The changes of plasma pancreatic polypeptide (PP) and plasma gastrin following acute insulin-induced hypoglycaemia (0 . 15 U/kg) were examined in six normal subjects, six tetraplegic subjects (preganglionic sympathectomy) and six tetraplegic subjects given atropine (combined adrenergic denervation and cholinergic blockade). Adequate hypoglycaemia was achieved in all three groups. The normal rise of plasma PP following hypoglycaemia was present in the tetraplegic group without atropine but was abolished in the tetraplegic subjects given atropine. There was no significant rise in plasma gastrin following hypoglycaemia except in the tetraplegic group given atropine. These results confirm that the secretion of PP in response to acute hypoglycaemia is mediated via cholinergic activity, while gastrin secretion appears to be inhibited in normal subjects by a vagal cholinergic mechanism.