Reversal of increased gastric somatostatin in streptozotocin-diabetic rats by whole pancreas transplantation.

Changes in both the content and the release of gastric somatostatin after amelioration of streptozotocin (SZ)-induced diabetes by whole pancreas transplantation were investigated in the present study. Highly inbred male Lewis rats were divided into three groups: normal, control rats; SZ-induced diabetic rats; and SZ-diabetic rats after whole pancreas transplantation. Fundic as well as antral somatostatin content in the streptozotocin-diabetic rats was significantly increased compared with the controls. Whole pancreas transplantation in SZ-diabetic rats markedly lowered the increased somatostatin content both in the fundus and the antrum. On the other hand, the exaggerated somatostatin release induced by glucagon from the isolated, perfused stomach observed in the SZ-diabetic rats was reduced to the level of normal rats by whole pancreatic transplantation. From these results, it is concluded that the hyperfunction of gastric D-cells in the SZ-diabetic rats is reversed by transplantation of whole pancreas.