Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of the brain in directing counterregulation during insulin-induced hypoglycemia in dogs. The capability of selective carotid or vertebrobasilar hypoglycemia in triggering counterregulation was assessed in this study using overnight-fasted dogs. Insulin (21 pM · kg−1 · min−1) was infused for 3 h to create peripheral hypoglycemia in the presence of 1) selective carotid hypoglycemia (vertebral glucose infusion, n = 5), 2) selective vertebrobasilar hypoglycemia (carotid glucose infusion, n = 5), 3) the absence of brain hypoglycemia (carotid and vertebral glucose infusion, n = 4), or 4) total brain hypoglycemia (no head glucose infusion, n = 5). Glucose was infused via a leg vein as needed in each group to minimize the differences in peripheral glucose levels (2.6 ± 0.1, 3.0 ± 0.2, 2.7 ± 0.1, and 2.5 ± 0.1 mM, respectively). The humoral responses (cortisol, glucagon, catecholamines, and pancreatic polypeptide) to hypoglycemia were minimally attenuated (< 40%) by selective carotid or vertebrobasilar euglycemia. In addition, the increase in hepatic glucose production, as assessed using [3-3H]glucose, was attenuated by only 41 and 34%, respectively, during selective carotid or vertebrobasilar hypoglycemia. These observations offer support for the hypothesis that more than one center is important in hypoglycemic counterregulation in the dog and that they are located in brain regions supplied by the carotid and vertebrobasilar arteries, because significant counterregulation occurred when hypoglycemia developed in either of these circulations. Counterregulation during hypoglycemia, therefore, is probably directed by widespread brain regions that contain glucose-sensitive neurons such that the sensing sites are redundant.
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September 01 1993
Counterregulation During Hypoglycemia Is Directed by Widespread Brain Regions
R Tyler Frizzell;
R Tyler Frizzell
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, Tennessee
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
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Elizabeth M Jones;
Elizabeth M Jones
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, Tennessee
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
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Stephen N Davis;
Stephen N Davis
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, Tennessee
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
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David W Biggers;
David W Biggers
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, Tennessee
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
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Sharon R Myers;
Sharon R Myers
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, Tennessee
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
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Cynthia C Connolly;
Cynthia C Connolly
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, Tennessee
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
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Doss W Neal;
Doss W Neal
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, Tennessee
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
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Jonathan B Jaspan;
Jonathan B Jaspan
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, Tennessee
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
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Alan D Cherrington
Alan D Cherrington
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, Tennessee
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
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Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. A.D. Cherrington, .Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232–0615.
Diabetes 1993;42(9):1253–1261
Article history
Received:
February 28 1992
Revision Received:
May 06 1993
Accepted:
May 06 1993
PubMed:
8349036
Citation
R Tyler Frizzell, Elizabeth M Jones, Stephen N Davis, David W Biggers, Sharon R Myers, Cynthia C Connolly, Doss W Neal, Jonathan B Jaspan, Alan D Cherrington; Counterregulation During Hypoglycemia Is Directed by Widespread Brain Regions. Diabetes 1 September 1993; 42 (9): 1253–1261. https://doi.org/10.2337/diab.42.9.1253
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