The effect of short-chain fatty acids on blood glucose concentration in sheep

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Abstract
Intravenous administration of 0.25 m-mole of butyrate/kg to insulin-treated sheep caused rapid increases in blood glucose concentration of up to about 40 mg/100 ml. Hexanoate was at least as effective and propionate less so, whereas acetate, succinate, lactate or 10 [mu]moles of sodium dodecyl sulfate/kg had little or no effect. Administration of glucose (0.125 m-mole/kg) produced increases of less than 20 mg of glucose/100 ml. The fatty acids also increased blood lactate concentrations under these conditions. After the injection of carboxyl-labelled butyrate or propionate the blood glucose contained only a small proportion of the C14 injected. Carboxyl-labelled butyrate was injected into lambs, which were killed after approx. 10 minutes. Only about 2% of the administration C14 was found in the acid-soluble fraction of the liver. The concentration of radioactivity in skeletal muscle, heart and kidney was of the same order as that in liver. The release of glucose by sheep or rabbit-liver slices was not significantly affected by the presence of butyrate in the medium, although adrenaline accelerated glucose release. The rise in blood glucose produced by the fatty acids is not due to gluconeogenesis from the fatty acids. Possible mechanisms for the rise are discussed.