Avaliaçäo clínica comparativa com placebo de um extrato estabilizado de valeriana / Clinical comparative evaluation of a stabilized valeriana extract and placebo

Quarenta pacientes portadores de sintomas leves de ansiedade e distúrbios de tensäo emocional foram selecionados e randomizados em dois grupos, um tratado com dois comprimidos de 50 mg de valeriana duas vezes ao dia e o outro com placebo, ambos durante 21 dias. A valeriana mostrou-se estatisticamente superior ao placebo. Os resultados clínicos e a ausência de efeitos colaterais confirmam a segurança e a atividade de ambas as drogas no tratamento da tensäo emocional

Insulin and C-peptide plasma levels in patients with severe chronic pancreatitis and fasting normoglycemia.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate insulin secretion by the pancreatic B cell in a group of patients with severe chronic pancreatitis and without overt diabetes. For this purpose we have measured plasma insulin and C-peptide peripheral levels in the fasting state and after a 100-g oral glucose load in 10 patients with severe chronic pancreatitis and fasting normoglycemia, and in 10 sex-, age-, and weight-matched healthy controls. As compared to normal subjects, patients with chronic pancreatitis showed: (1) significantly higher plasma glucose levels after oral glucose load (area under the plasma glucose curve 1708 +/- 142 vs 1208 +/- 47 mmol/liter X 240 min, P less than 0.005); (2) plasma insulin levels significantly higher at fasting (0.11 +/- 0.008 vs 0.08 +/- 0.005 nmol/liter, P less than 0.01) but not after oral glucose administration (area under the plasma insulin curve 79 +/- 12 vs 88 +/- 16 nmol/liter X 240 min); (3) significantly lower plasma C-peptide concentrations both in the fasting state (0.15 +/- 0.01 vs 0.54 +/- 0.05 nmol/liter, P less than 0.001) and after oral glucose load (area under the plasma C-peptide curve 211 +/- 30 vs 325 +/- 37 nmol/liter X 240 min, P less than 0.05). The finding of diminished plasma C-peptide levels suggests that chronic pancreatitis is associated with an impaired B-cell function even in the absence of overt diabetes. The increased or unchanged plasma insulin levels in spite of decreased plasma C-peptide concentrations indicate that in chronic pancreatitis insulin metabolism is reduced, most likely within the liver.

Relationship between blood pressure and plasma insulin in non-obese and obese non-diabetic subjects.

In this study, we have measured plasma insulin at fasting and following an oral glucose load and blood pressure after glucose load in 367 (247 non-obese, 120 obese) normotensive and untreated mildly hypertensive subjects. Overall, there was no independent association between fasting plasma insulin levels and blood pressure values. After controlling for age and body weight, a significant relationship between postglucose plasma insulin levels and diastolic blood pressure was found. When non-obese and obese subjects were examined separately, significant relationships were identified between postglucose plasma insulin levels and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure values in the former but not in the latter. A comparison of sex-, age-, and weight-matched hyperinsulinaemic vs normoinsulinaemic subjects showed that the former had significantly higher values of blood pressure only if not obese. These results demonstrate that the plasma insulin response to glucose is independently correlated with blood pressure.

Influence of the menstrual cycle on glucose tolerance and insulin secretion.

To evaluate the impact of the menstrual cycle on glucose tolerance and insulin secretion, in the present study we have measured the plasma concentrations of glucose, insulin, and C-peptide during a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test in 110 healthy, nonobese, regularly menstruating women. Fifty-five women were in the follicular phase, and 55 were in the luteal phase of the cycle. The two groups were well matched for age and body weight. Plasma concentrations of glucose, insulin, and C-peptide either in the fasting state or after the oral glucose load did not differ in the two groups. These results suggest that in nondiabetic women the menstrual cycle has no major effect on glucose tolerance and insulin secretion and that the phase of the menstrual cycle should not be considered in programming and interpreting an oral glucose tolerance test.

Relationships between insulin secretion, insulin metabolism and insulin resistance in mild glucose intolerance.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the correlation between insulin resistance and peripheral hyperinsulinaemia existing in mild glucose intolerance corresponds to a relationship between insulin resistance and insulin overproduction by the pancreas. In addition, the possibility that insulin resistance is related to insulin metabolism was examined. Twenty five subjects with fasting normoglycaemia and an abnormal glucose response to the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were studied. Insulin secretion by the pancreas was estimated by means of fasting C-peptide levels in peripheral blood. Insulin resistance was estimated by the rate of glucose disappearance from plasma after i.v. insulin injection. Insulin metabolism was estimated indirectly by the C-peptide: insulin molar ratio. A negative correlation was found between the glucose disappearance rate from plasma after i.v. insulin injection and fasting insulin levels (r = -0.677, p less than 0.001), but not fasting C-peptide concentrations (r = -0.164, p = NS). Glucose disappearance rate from plasma correlated positively with the C-peptide: insulin molar ratio (r = 0.626, p less than 0.001). These results suggest that in mild glucose intolerance insulin resistance and insulin secretion by the pancreas are not related phenomena, and that the defect responsible for insulin resistance might also be implicated in the impaired insulin metabolism.

Fractional hepatic extraction of insulin in man: is it constant?

The present study was designed to compare insulin extraction by the liver following oral glucose administrations of different size, in order to evaluate insulin removal by the liver in relation to the insulin exposure, and to the amount of ingested glucose. Insulin secretion by the pancreas was estimated by the measurement of peripheral C-peptide levels, and insulin extraction by the liver by the analysis of peripheral C-peptide to insulin ratios and relations. Ten healthy subjects (5 males and 5 females), aged 16 to 66 yr, with normal bw, and without family history of diabetes mellitus were investigated by means of the administration, on alternate days, of 50 and 150 g oral glucose loads. After the 150 g oral glucose load plasma glucose levels were significantly higher than after the 50 g oral glucose administration: glucose incremental areas of 1.45 +/- 0.12 vs. 0.55 +/- 0.04 mmol/l X min, respectively (p less than 0.001). Similarly, insulin concentrations were significantly higher following 150 g than after 50 g glucose ingestion: insulin incremental areas of 0.52 +/- 0.09 vs. 0.20 +/- 0.04 nmol/l X min (p less than 0.001). Also C-peptide levels were higher after 150 vs. 50 g oral glucose load: C-peptide incremental areas of 1.85 +/- 0.41 vs. 0.64 +/- 0.13 nmol/l X min (p less than 0.01). C-peptide to insulin molar ratios were similar during the two glucose challenge, and averaged 5.25 +/- 0.42 vs. 5.08 +/- 0.50 after 50 and 150 g oral glucose loads, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

TSH and PRL responses to domperidone and TRH in men with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus of different duration.

The effect of domperidone, a specific blocker of dopamine receptors, on serum TSH and PRL levels was evaluated in 16 euthyroid men affected by insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) of different duration and in 7 age-matched normal controls. Diabetics were divided into 2 groups of 8 men according to the duration of their disease (group I: 1-9 years; group II: 11-18 years). Both groups had normal basal levels of TSH and PRL. Responses of these hormones to domperidone were similar in normal controls and in group I diabetics, whereas they were significantly reduced in patients of group II. When all 16 diabetics were studied together, a significant negative correlation was found between mean maximal peaks of TSH and PRL responses to domperidone and duration of diabetes. In order to evaluate whether the reduced effect of domperidone in diabetics was due to alterations of the dopaminergic control of TSH and PRL secretion, the domperidone test was repeated in 6 normal controls and in 6 diabetics of group II after infusion of dopamine (4 micrograms/kg/min for 2 h). Dopamine infusion induced parallel decreases in TSH and PRL concentrations, without modifying hormonal secretory patterns in response to domperidone. These data suggested that the reduced TSH and PRL responses to domperidone in diabetics were not due to alterations of the dopaminergic control of pituitary function but to a defect at the pituitary level. To test this hypothesis, TSH and PRL responses to TRH were evaluated in group I and group II diabetics and in normal controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Further evidence that insulin metabolism is a major determinant of peripheral insulin response to oral glucose in subjects with mild glucose intolerance.

In mild glucose intolerance plasma concentration of C-peptide seems to give an estimate of pancreatic B cell secretion more reliable than plasma insulin itself. In the present study we measured the plasma levels of insulin and C-peptide after oral glucose load in 100 mildly glucose intolerant subjects, focusing our attention on high and low insulin responders. According to an insulin incremental area after oral glucose higher or lower than the mean +/- SD of the mean, 16 subjects were classified as "high insulin responders", and 17 as "low insulin responders". The two groups were similar for sex, age and bw. Mean insulin incremental area was almost 9-fold greater in high insulin responders than in low insulin responders (0.88 +/- 0.03 vs 0.10 +/- 0.01 pmol/ml min, p less than 0.001). Also mean C-peptide incremental area was significantly greater in high insulin responders than in low insulin responders, but the differences between the two groups were smaller. Indeed, mean C-peptide area was approximately 2.5-fold greater in high insulin responders than in low insulin responders (1.58 +/- 0.12 vs 0.66 +/- 0.07 pmol/ml min, p less than 0.001). These results give further support to the concept that in mild glucose intolerance insulin metabolism is a major determinant of peripheral insulin response to oral glucose load.

Effect of domperidone on the release of insulin after intravenous glucose load in man.

To determine whether the blockade of the dopaminergic system is capable of modifying glucose-induced insulin release in man, the responses of insulin to an iv glucose load were measured at various domperidone infusion rates. The infusion of 5 micrograms/kg/min of domperidone increased significantly plasma insulin levels during the acute phase of glucose-induced insulin release and lowered plasma glucose values at 50 and 60 min; the k of glucose disappearance improved significantly. At lower domperidone infusion rates the acute increment of insulin after glucose load was indistinguishable from the response observed at 5 micrograms/kg/min until 0.5 microgram/kg/min, while similar responses in control and experimental tests were observed at 0.25 microgram/kg/min. A group of subjects was submitted to an arginine load in order to establish whether the effect observed with domperidone was specific for the glucose-induced insulin release; but, this time, we did not observe any significant effect during the domperidone-induced dopaminergic blockade. Furthermore, we also measured the plasma prolactin levels, to see whether the specific and well known effect of domperidone on prolactin release matches with the effect on beta-cell function. As far as prolactin is concerned, we observed a dose response effect of domperidone infusion, with a detectable elevation of prolactin at infusion rate of 0.25 microgram/kg/min. Since domperidone is a specific antagonist of dopamine D2-receptors, we propose that dopamine might exert a specific inhibiting effect on glucose-induced insulin release through this class of dopamine receptors.

Glucose tolerance after portacaval shunt in liver cirrhosis.

The liver plays a key role in glucose homeostasis and insulin metabolism. Altered glucose and insulin levels in peripheral blood are common findings in chronic liver disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of surgical portosystemic shunt on plasma glucose and insulin responses to glucose administration in a group of cirrhotic patients. For this purpose 10 cirrhotic subjects (8 males and 2 females) aged 42 to 65 years underwent an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT, 75 g), and an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT, 0.33 g/kg) before and after undergoing a side-to side portocaval anastomosis (PCS). 6 noncirrhotic, nondiabetic patients matched for sex, age and body weight who underwent abdominal vascular surgery served as controls. In cirrhotic subjects, the PCS resulted in: increased plasma glucose and insulin levels during OGTT; decreased C-peptide level during OGTT; unmodified plasma glucose and insulin concentrations during IVGTT. In control subjects the abdominal surgery did not affect plasma glucose and insulin responses to oral or intravenous glucose loads. These results suggest that in cirrhotic subjects surgical portocaval shunt results in: deterioration of oral but not intravenous glucose tolerance, due to an escape of ingested glucose from the liver; increased peripheral insulin response to oral glucose administration as a consequence of reduction in hepatic removal of the hormone; and decreased pancreatic response to oral glucose due possibly to a greater feed back inhibition of beta-cell. These events seem to be a consequence of the shunt per se and not of a deterioration of hepatocellular function.

Nicotinic-cholinergic involvement in arginine-vasopressin response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia in normal men.

In order to establish whether arginine-vasopressin (AVP) release in response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia is mediated by a muscarinic and/or nicotinic cholinergic pathway, 12 normal men had an insulin tolerance test (ITT) in basal conditions and after treatment with the muscarinic receptor blocker pirenzepine (40 mg IV (intravenously) ten minutes before ITT in six subjects) or the nicotinic receptor antagonist trimethaphan (0.3 mg/min X 30 min IV before ITT in six subjects). The drugs did not modify arterial blood pressure nor produce side effects capable of altering AVP secretion. Pirenzepine administration did not change AVP response to hypoglycemia, whereas trimethaphan significantly reduced AVP increase by about 50% during the ITT. These data suggest the involvement of a cholinergic-nicotinic mechanism in regulation of AVP response to hypoglycemia.

Insulin and C-peptide responses to 75 g oral glucose load in the healthy man.

Plasma insulin and C-peptide levels in the fasting state and after a 2-h 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in a large number of healthy subjects are reported. 247 volunteers (134 males, 113 females), aged 13-69 years, who had a negative history of diabetes, no history of significant disease, normal physical examination, normal body weight, normal glucose tolerance, normal blood tests, and who were taking no drugs were studied. Results, mean +/- SEM (range): fasting glucose concentration = 4.64 +/- 0.03 mmol/l (3.10 - 6.10), 1-h glucose concentration = 5.23 +/- 0.10 mmol/l (2.20 - 9.90), 2-h glucose concentration = 4.11 +/- 0.06 mmol/l (2.00 - 6.80); fasting insulin level = 0.088 +/- 0.002 nmol/l (0.03 - 0.28), 1-h insulin level = 0.45 +/- 0.01 nmol/l (0.06 - 1.63), 2-h insulin level = 0.24 +/- 0.01 nmol/l (0.05 - 1.12); fasting C-peptide concentration = 0.60 +/- 0.01 nmol/l (0.14 - 1.34), 1-h C-peptide concentration = 2.17 +/- 0.05 (0.63 - 8.56), 2-h C-peptide concentration = 1.77 +/- 0.04 nmol/(0.35 - 5.74). Fasting insulin and fasting C-peptide concentrations correlated to post-glucose insulin and C-peptide concentrations, respectively. At each sampling-point insulin concentration correlated to C-peptide concentration. After glucose ingestion, both insulin and C-peptide plasma levels correlated significantly with the corresponding glucose levels. During fasting, C-peptide but no insulin level correlated to glucose level.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Diminished pituitary responsiveness to growth hormone-releasing factor in aging male rats.

The pattern of GH secretion undergoes substantial changes in the aging rat, resulting in decreased daily secretion of GH. In this study, the pituitary responsiveness to GH-releasing factor (GRF) was examined in young (2- to 5-month old) and aging (14- to 18-month old) male rats. In vivo studies were performed under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia. After injection of 250 ng GRF/100 g BW, young rats experienced more GH secretion [peak level, 544.5 +/- 209.5 (+/- SEM) ng/ml] than did 18-month-old rats (89.3 +/- 13.7 ng/ml). To investigate the locus of this insensitivity to GRF, anterior pituitary cells from young and aging rats were dispersed and placed in primary culture. While basal GH secretion from the cultured pituitary cells was similar in the two groups (49.7 +/- 3.5 vs. 47.8 +/- 2.7 ng/ml X 4 h for the 2- and 18-month old rats, respectively), the GH-releasing ability of GRF was partially but significantly impaired in cells derived from both 14- and 18-month old rats; 100 nM GRF stimulated the release of 96.7 +/- 1.8 ng/ml X 4 h in the 18-month old rats as opposed to 115.0 +/- 6.0 (P less than 0.05) ng/ml X 4 h in the 2-month-old rats. Since GRF stimulates GH release through the activation of adenylate cyclase, intracellular cAMP levels were measured in the cultured pituitary cells. GRF stimulated 65% less intracellular cAMP accumulation in the 18-month-old rats. In 14-month-old rats, the ability of forskolin and (Bu)2 cAMP to release GH was impaired, while phorbol ester-elicited GH secretion was unchanged. In conclusion, the GH response to GRF is blunted in aging rats. While much of the insensitivity to GRF may be mediated by the increased somatostatin tone reported in aging rats, a diminished pituitary cAMP response to GRF may also be an important etiological factor in the hyposomatotropinemia of the aging male rat.

Pathogenetic mechanisms of the endogenous hypertriglyceridemia in a nonobese rat model.

Male Sprague-Dawley IVA-SIV rats were compared to male Sprague-Dawley Charles River rats of the same age, body weight, and daily food intake. The IVA-SIV rats demonstrated hypertriglyceridemia (182 +/- 9.4 v 131 +/- 9.4 mg/dL, P less than 0.001), associated with increased fasting plasma glucose (115 +/- 3 v 84 +/- 2 mg/dL, P less than 0.001), and plasma insulin (35 +/- 5 v 19 +/- 2 microU/mL, P less than 0.001) levels. Furthermore, IVA-SIV rats responded to an oral glucose load with higher plasma glucose and insulin levels. Very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL)-triglyceride (TG) turnover studies were performed, documenting a higher TG production rate, which correlated with the plasma TG concentrations, (r = 0.58, P less than 0.01) in the IVA-SIV rats. Since lipoprotein lipase activity in both adipose tissue and muscle was not significantly different in the two groups of rats, it appears that the hypertriglyceridemia in IVA-SIV rats is due to increased VLDL-TG secretion, associated with hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and increased plasma FFA levels. The IVA-SIV rats provide a model of endogenous hypertriglyceridemia, independent of obesity.

Effect of age and environmental factors on glucose tolerance and insulin secretion in a worker population.

The effect of age on glucose tolerance, as differentiated from the effects of obesity, work and leisure physical activity, family history of diabetes, and the use of drugs known to adversely affect glucose tolerance and/or insulin secretion, has been analyzed in 732 factory workers aged 22 to 73 years. Glucose tolerance, as evaluated by the plasma glucose response to 75 g of oral glucose deteriorated with age, associated with an increase in plasma insulin levels. However, the age-related decrease in glucose tolerance also correlated significantly with degree of obesity, leisure-time physical activity, and the use of potential diabetogenic drugs. Partial correlation coefficients were calculated to define the effect of age per se on glucose tolerance, controlling for the presence of these other age-related variables. When this was done, the degree of correlation between age and glucose tolerance was reduced, particularly in women, to where it became of marginal statistical significance. The effect of age on insulin response was affected to a greater degree by age-related variables, and was no longer statistically significant when these other factors were taken into consideration. These data suggest that the elevation in plasma glucose and insulin levels associated with age are to a certain extent due to age-related environmental factors, and the deterioration in glucose tolerance with age is relatively modest in magnitude in a generally healthy population.

Muscarinic cholinergic modulation of insulin response to an intravenous glucose tolerance test in normal man.

The effect of pirenzepine, a specific muscarinic cholinergic receptor antagonist, on insulin and glucagon responses to an intravenous injection of glucose was investigated in eight normal adult subjects. These volunteers received two iv glucose tolerance tests (0.33 g/kg) before and after the oral administration of 125 mg of pirenzepine (three doses of 25 mg during the day before the experiment and a fourth dose of 50 mg 2 h before glucose injection). Treatment with pirenzepine neither altered basal blood glucose levels nor affected glucose tolerance after the injection of the glucose load. In addition, it did not modify basal plasma insulin and glucagon levels and the decrement of glucagon in response to glucose injection. In contrast, pirenzepine significantly decreased insulin release induced by glucose administration. In man, during the present experimental conditions, the muscarinic cholinergic system modulates insulin, but not glucagon response to an iv glucose injection.

Insulin metabolism is a major factor responsible for high or low peripheral insulin levels in response to oral glucose loading in the healthy man.

In the present study we evaluated C-peptide peripheral levels after an oral glucose load in 30 healthy subjects (18 females, 12 males, aged from 15 to 55) with high or low insulin response to glucose challenge in order to clarify whether or not their beta-cell secretion rate keeps pace with peripheral insulin levels. Moreover, by the study of the relations between C-peptide and insulin in peripheral blood, we had an insight into the extent of insulin metabolism. On the basis of an insulin incremental area higher or lower than the mean +/- 1 SD after a 100-gram oral glucose load, 6 subjects were classified as 'high insulin responders' and 6 other subjects as 'low insulin responders'. Their insulin incremental area after glucose averaged 0.25 +/- 0.01 nmol X 1-1 X min and 0.078 +/- 0.005 nmol X 1-1 X min, respectively (p less than 0.001). The two groups were matched for sex, age and body weight. The glycemic profile after oral glucose load was higher in low insulin responders than in high insulin responders. C-peptide concentrations after glucose load were similar in the two groups, as well as C-peptide incremental areas (0.92 +/- 0.12 vs. 0.74 +/- 0.08 nmol X l-1 X min in high insulin responders and low insulin responders, respectively). The molar ratios of C-peptide to insulin after oral glucose load, as well as the relations between the incremental areas of the two peptides, were significantly lower in high insulin responders than in low insulin responders.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)