Abstract
In order to evaluate the effect of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) on endocrine pancreatic functions, investigations were made on the dynamics of insulin and glucagon in intravenous glucose tolerance tests (IV-GTT), arginine tolerance tests (ATT) and perfusion studies of the isolated pancreas in rats treated with TSH (1 unit/day i. p. inj.) for 14 days.
Serum T3 and T4 levels, in TSH-treated rats, were significantly higher than those in controls. In IV-GTT, the blood sugar response was unchanged but insulin release was significantly lower than that of the controls. Insulin secretion in ATT and perfusion studies of the isolated pancreas were similar with that of the controls. Glucagon responses showed similar patterns to those of the controls in all the experiments.
These resits indicate that TSH administration, in the rat, in vivo, exerts some effect on insulin release possibly through an increase in thyroid hormones but exerts no influence on glucagon secretion.
