Diabetes, Vol 44, Issue 7 830-836, Copyright © 1995 by American Diabetes Association
The pseudotetrasaccharide acarbose inhibits pancreatic islet glucan-1,4-alpha-glucosidase activity in parallel with a suppressive action on glucose-induced insulin release
A Salehi, G Panagiotidis, LA Borg and I Lundquist
Department of Pharmacology, University of Lund, Sweden.
The pseudotetrasaccharide acarbose, previously known as a potent inhibitor
of intestinal alpha-glucoside hydrolases, was investigated with regard to
its influence on islet lysosomal enzyme activities and the insulin
secretory processes. We observed that acarbose was a potent inhibitor of
mouse islet lysosomal acid glucan-1,4-alpha-glucosidase activity, EC50
approximately 5 mumol/l, as well as of acid alpha-glucosidase activity. In
contrast, acarbose did not influence other lysosomal enzyme activities such
as acid phosphatase and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase. Neutral
alpha-glucosidase (endoplasmic reticulum) was only moderately inhibited in
homogenate and was unaffected in intact islets. Incubation of isolated
mouse islets with acarbose revealed that the pseudotetrasaccharide was a
strong inhibitor of glucose-induced insulin secretion, EC50 approximately
500 nmol/l, and a significant inhibition was already observed at a
concentration of acarbose as low as 100 nmol/l. The acarbose analogue
maltotetrose did not influence either glucose-induced insulin release or
islet lysosomal enzyme activities. Further, acarbose as well as two other
alpha-glucoside hydrolase inhibitors, the deoxynojirimycin derivatives
miglitol and emiglitate, did not affect islet glucose oxidation at low or
high glucose levels. Acarbose also inhibited insulin release induced by the
sulfonylurea glibenclamide, whereas insulin secretion stimulated by the
cholinergic muscarinic agonist carbachol or the phosphodiesterase inhibitor
isobutylmethylxanthine was unaffected by the drug. Moreover, complementary
in vivo experiments showed that pretreatment of mice with acarbose to allow
for endocytosis of the compound markedly suppressed the insulin secretory
response to an intravenous glucose load.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)