β‐Adrenergic Responsiveness of the Gastrointestinal Tract in Diabetic Rats

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Abstract
Recently, decreased gastrointestinal β‐adrenergic responses in experimental diabetes have been demonstrated. Gastrointestinal responses to β‐adrenoceptor agonists are impaired in both insulin‐dependent and non‐insulin‐dependent diabetic rat. Insulin treatment improves the impaired gastrointestinal β‐adrenergic responsiveness of diabetic rats. The improvement seen with insulin treatment on β‐adrenergic responsiveness is closely related to protein biosynthesis. The decreased β‐adrenergic responses in diabetic rat gastrointestinal tract seem to result from a decrease in the number of β‐adrenoceptors. It is most likely that the decreased gastrointestinal β‐adrenergic responsiveness is related to an impairment in the turnover of β‐adrenoceptors as a consequence of diabetes and that insulin has a beneficial effect on the impaired receptor turnover.
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