Insulin in bile. The effect of monosaccharides and hypoglycaemic agents.

Abstract

Immuno-reactive insulin is found in the hepatic bile of normal rabbits. Less than 1% of an injected dose of bovine insulin reached the bile. When 125I-bovine insulin alone or complexed with antibody was given intravenously, only 40% of the radioactivity recovered in the bile was precipitable with trichloracetic acid, and less than 10% reacted with guinea pig anti-insulin serum. Glucose, fructose, galactose, tolbutamide and phenformin all caused an elevation in bile insulin, which reached a maximum 40 to 50 min after the injection. Alloxan attenuated or abolished these responses.