USE OF AN IN VIVO MODEL SYSTEM TO INVESTIGATE NIDDM

年龄是NIDDM的独立危险因素。年龄也与 胰岛素分泌的下降。使用来自Wistar大鼠的6-细胞 在GRC的老年大鼠群体中，我们发现胰岛素的释放 随着供者年龄的增加，对葡萄糖的摄取减少。这是测试版减少的结果 释放胰岛素的细胞以及每个细胞释放的胰岛素较少。我们 发现胰岛素的mRNA在胰岛中优先减少， 葡萄糖激酶和胰高血糖素信息不受影响。因此，看起来， 在大鼠的整个生命周期中，胰岛素信息都在减少。小岛 通过增加大小来弥补这一点。但是，最终这个补偿 变得不够用。因此，人们可以想象当压力被施加的时候 系统因此需要更多的胰岛素，可能会导致糖尿病。我们是 探讨是什么因素导致胰岛素信息的减少以及 我们可以预防或逆转它的可能性。

Age is an independent risk factor for NIDDM. Age is also associated with a decline in insulin secretion. Using 6-cells from Wistar rats from the colony of aged rats at the GRC, we showed that insulin release in response to glucose decreases with age of the donor. This is a result of fewer beta cells releasing insulin as well as less insulin released per cell. We found that mRNA for insulin is preferentially diminished in islets, with glucokinase and glucagon messages unaffected. Therefore, it appears that throughout the lifespan of the rat, insulin message is decreasing. Islets compensate for this by increasing size. But, eventually this compensation becomes inadequate. Therefore, one can envision when a stress is put on the system so more insulin is required, diabetes could result. We are exploring what factors lead to this diminution of insulin message and the possibility that we can prevent or reverse it.