Sensitivity of Pacific hagfish, Eptatretus stouti, to mammalian insulin

Abstract

Long-lasting hypoglycemia and depression of plasma amino nitrogen levels were produced in Pacific hagfish, Eptatretus stouti, by injection of as little as 0.1 to 0.5 IU/kg of bovine insulin. This, in contrast with earlier information from Myxine glutinosa, indicates that the metabolic sensitivity of Eptatretus to mammalian insulin is at least as great as that in most higher vertebrates. However, the long-lasting character of the hypoglycemia and depressed plasma amino nitrogen argue for poorly developed antihypoglycemic metabolic mechanisms in this cyclostome.