The beneficial effects of a muscarinic agonist on pancreatic β-cells.

ABSTRACT: The brain and nervous system play an important role in pancreatic β-cell function. This study investigated the role of muscarinic agonists or acetylcholine, which is the major neurotransmitter in the vagal nerve, in regulating pancreatic β-cell mass and glucose homeostasis. Administration of the muscarinic agonist bethanechol increased insulin secretion and improved glucose tolerance in insulin-receptor substrate 2 (IRS2)-knockout (IRS-2^-/-) mice and diet-induced obesity mice. Oral administration of bethanechol increased β-cell mass and proliferation in wild-type mice, but not IRS-2^-/- mice. The muscarinic agonist also increased the incorporation of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) into islets isolated from wild-type mice and pancreatic β-cell line MIN6. The phosphoryla

SUBMITTER: Ito Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6838462 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature