Effect of insulin on temperature and metabolic responses in rats during normothermia and hypothermia
Torlińska, T.; Koźlik, J.; Krauss, H.; Paluszak, J.
Endokrynologia Polska 44(1): 23-35
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 0423-104X PMID: 8050387 Document Number: 416987
As shown in our previous study, hypothermia provokes a variety of hormonal changes including inhibition of insulin secretion and increase in blood serum glucagon level. According to Therminarias et al. the administration of exogenous insulin to dogs subjected to hypothermia causes a calorigenic effect by enhancing oxygen consumption and rising the intensity of shivering thermogenesis. The study was aimed at establishing whether exogenous insulin administered to rats subjected to brief hypothermia and having the shivering thermogenesis blocked by thiobutabarbital anesthesia can influence rectal temperature, the levels of some hormones and energy metabolism. The results obtained suggest that 1) insulin administration causes an increase in the energy charge potential (ECP) both in the liver and in skeletal muscle of the rat, indicating the domination of anabolic processes both in normothermic and hypothermic conditions, 2) there is a negative correlation between the levels of insulin and free fatty acids and the activity of isocitric dehydrogenase in rat liver mitochondria, and 3) the administration of insulin at a dose provoking metabolic response both in normothermic and hypothermic conditions was ineffective in provoking temperature response, indicating the existence of a functional dissociation between the various effects of the same dose of exogenous insulin.