Glucagon-like peptide 1 content of intestinal tract in adult rats injected with streptozotocin either during neonatal period or 7 d before sacrifice

Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) content of the intestinal tract was recently found to be lower in diabetes-prone BioBreeding (BBdp) rats than in the corresponding control animals (BBc rats), a finding compatible with the idea that an inflammatory intestinal state precedes insulitis in these diabetes-prone animals. This study aimed at measuring GLP-1 content of the intestinal tract both in another animal model of type 1 diabetes and in an animal model of type 2 diabetes. GLP-1 content of the jejunum, ileum, colon, and cecum was measured in male and female adult control rats and animals injected with streptozotocin (STZ) either during the neonatal period or 7 d before sacrifice. GLP-1 content of the intestinal tract was higher in type 1 diabetic rats than in control animals. Such was not the case in the type 2 diabetic rats. The findings recorded in the rats injected with STZ either during the neonatal period or later in life indicate that hyperglycemia and/or insulin deficiency do not cause a decrease in GLP-1 content of the intestinal tract. On the contrary, such a content may increase when the glucose intolerance and hypoinsulinemia are sufficiently pronounced, as was the case in the type 1 diabetic rats. These findings are thus compatible with the view that the decreased GLP-1 content of the intestinal tract in BBdp rats may result from intestinal inflammation.