Degradation and conversion of somatostatin in normal and diabetic rats in vivo and in vitro
Plasma somatostatin-like immunoreactivity in the portal and jugular veins of streptozotocin diabetic rats was compared with that in normal control rats. In the diabetic group, somatostatin levels in the portal (p < 0.05) and jugular (p < 0.01) veins were both elevated compared with those in the control group. Moreover, the degree of elevation was greater in the jugular vein than in the portal vein. To further investigate the role of the liver in the clearance of somatostatin-28 in vivo, 2 μg of somatostatin-28 was administered as a bolus into the external jugular vein of intact and functionally hepatectomized rats. The mean half-time of somatostatin-28 was significantly longer in intact diabetic rats than in controls (p < 0.05). The functional hepatectomy did not cause a significant difference in the half-time in diabetic rats but made it longer in control rats. These results suggest that the longer half-time of somatostatin-28 in diabetic rats in vivo is due to its slower hepatic clearance. The hepatic clearance of somatostatin-28 and somatostatin-14 was further studied in vitro using a recirculating liver perfusion method. The hepatic clearance of 1.2 nM of either somatostatin-28 or somatostatin-14 was significantly lower in diabetic rats than in controls (p < 0.01). This indicates that elevated plasma somatostatin levels in diabetic rats are caused at least in part by decreased hepatic clearance of somatostatin. Gel chromatography of plasma samples obtained 0.5 and 4 min after the somatostatin-28 injection into intact, hepatectomized, and nephrectomized rats showed two major peaks: one compatible with somatostatin-28 and the other compatible with somatostatin-14 in elution position, in both diabetic and control rats. When somatostatin-28 was added to perfusate in vitro, however, gel chromatography failed to demonstrate the second peak was compatible with somatostatin-14 even after 30 min of recirculating perfusion. Gel chromatography of plasma samples obtained 5 and 30 min after incubation of somatostatin-28 showed two major peaks: one compatible with somatostatin-28 and the other compatible with somatostatin-14 in both diabetic and control rats. These results suggest that the conversion of somatostatin-28 to somatostatin-14 occurs mainly in plasma in vivo.