Takahide Nomura, Masatsugu Ohtsuki, Toshiko Watanabe, Seiko Hasegawa, Shigeru Matsui, Akira Tomita, Chiho Sumi-Ichinose, Hiroko Nomura and Yasumichi Hagino
Department of Pharmacology, Fujita Health University of Medicine, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake-cho, Toyoake, Aichi 470-11, Japan
Abstract: We examined the metabolic effects of glibenclamide, a potent second-generation sulfonylurea, in isolated rat hepatocytes incubated in the absence of extracellular Ca2+. We first demonstrated in the present study that glibenclamide caused a significant increase in basal glucose release and lactate production without any modification of intracellular Ca2+ concentration or cAMP levels in isolated rat hepatocytes. Furthermore, glibenclamide inhibited the noradrenaline-induced increase in cAMP accumulation, while activation of glycogenolysis by noradrenaline was not suppressed by this agent. Our data indicate that glibenclamide exerts its metabolic effects independent of intracellular Ca2+ mobilization and cAMP accumulation.
Keywords: Glibenclamide, Cellular cAMP level, Intracellular Ca2+ concentration