[Insulinotropic factors in health and disease].

Reviews in brief the studies of the effects of some non-glucose regulators of various origins on pancreatic insulin secretion mediated by endocrine, paracrine, and neurocrine mechanisms, carried out in this laboratory. Model experiments with primary monolayer cultures of isolated islet cells have helped demonstrate a direct insulinotropic effect of STH, TRH, C-terminal tetrapeptide cholecystokinin, opioid peptides and blood plasma of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The findings evidence that the insulinotropic effect of the blood serum of patients with type I diabetes may be associated with both stimulation and suppression of the functional activity of the cultivated islet cells.