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A Low Protein Diet Lowers Islet Insulin Secretion but Does Not Alter Hyperinsulinemia in Obese Zucker (fa/fa) Rats^1,2,3,

Elizabeth O. Tse^*, Francine M. Gregoire^*, Linda J. Magrum^*, Patricia R. Johnson^*,, and Judith S. Stern^*,,4

^* Department of Nutrition Division of Biological Sciences Department of Internal Medicine (Division of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism), University of California, Davis, CA 95616

The effects of feeding a low protein diet on pancreatic insulin secretion early in life in genetically lean and obese Zucker rats were studied. Four-week-old lean (Fa/Fa) and obese (fa/fa) Zucker rats were fed either a 5% protein or a 20% protein diet for 3 wk. Rats were killed at 7 wk of age. Pancreatic islets were isolated and insulin response of islets was measured in a 60-min static incubation under one of the following conditions: 2.7 mmol/L glucose ± 10 mmol/L arginine, 8.3 mmol/L glucose ± 10 mmol/L arginine, and 16.7 mmol/L glucose. Serum insulin was significantly lower (P 0.05) in lean, but not in obese rats fed low protein compared with those fed the normal protein diet. Interestingly, obese rats fed the low protein diet had the highest plasma glucose concentrations (P 0.05) among the four groups. Feeding the low protein diet reduced insulin secretion of islets from lean rats by 70%, and from obese rats by 30 to 50% compared with rats fed the normal protein diet. Insulin content of islets was reduced significantly in lean rats fed the low protein diet (by 70%) and in obese rats (by 50%). A short-term protein deficiency early in life reduced in vitro insulin secretion of islets from both lean and obese rats. However, reductions in insulin content and insulin release from islets resulting from low protein feeding were not sufficient to alter hyperinsulinemia in genetically obese Zucker rats.

KEY WORDS: • insulin secretion • pancreatic islets • low protein diet • rats

¹ Supported in part by National Institutes of Health grant nos. DK 18899 and DK 35757.

² Presented in part at the 1993 NAASO Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, WI [Tse, E. O., Gregoire, F. M., Magrum, L. J., Johnson, P. R. & Stem, J. S. (1993) Effects of low protein diet on insulin secretion in young lean and obese Zucker rats. Obesity Res. 1(suppl. 2): 101S (abs.)].

³ The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 USC section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

⁴ To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Manuscript received 27 July 1994. Revision accepted 1 February 1995.

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