Immediate effect of lesion of the ventromedial hypothalamic area upon glucose-induced insulin secretion in anaesthetized rats

Abstract

Insulin secretion, measured in vivo following an intravneous load of glucose to anaesthetized rats, was markedly increased ten minutes after bilateral electrolytic lesions of the ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) area when compared to both sham-operated and unoperated controls. The successful lesioning of the VMH area was assessed by the subsequent occurrence of hyperphagia, as estimated by the increase in body weight. It is concluded that the ventromedial hypothalamic area exerts an inhibitory influence upon the secretory activity of the B-cells. Furthermore, the rapid disappearance of such inhibitory influence following lesions of the VMH suggests that this area of the brain may be of importance in the minute to minute regulation of insulin secretion. The precise anatomical location of the hypothalamic "nucleus" (or "nuclei") involved, as well as the neural or humoral nature of its inhibitory effect upon the endocrine pancreas remain to be elucidated.