Abstract
Rats were either fed a 12% fat diet for 3 weeks, or rendered obese by administration
of a 40 % fat diet for 6 months. In both cases, the rate of insulin secretion evoked
by glucose in incubated pieces of pancreatic tissue was lower than that observed in
tissue from control animals fed diets containing only 3 to 4 % fat. This reduction
in the insulin secretory response to glucose occured despite the maintenance of a
normal pancreatic insulin content. In the obese rats, the sensitivity to insulin of
adipose tissue and muscle was also reduced. Thus, in these animals fed high-fat diets,
obesity and peripheral insensitivity to insulin were not accompanied by a concomitant
increase in the secretory response of the beta-cell to glucose, as seen in other types
of experimental obesity.
Key words
Obesity in rats - Insensitivity to Insulin - Insulin Secretory Response - Incubation
of Pieces of Pancreas - High Fat Diet
1 This work was supported in part by grants-in-aid from the Lilly Research Laboratories
(Indianapolis, Ind.) and the Upjohn Company (Kalamazoo, Mich.), and by the association
contract Euratom-Universities of Pisa and Brussels (026-63-04 BIAC).
