Regulation of insulin secretion by cAMP in rat islets of Langerhans permeabilised by high-voltage discharge

Adenosine 3',5-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) was shown to stimulate insulin secretion from electrically permeabilised islets of Langerhans incubated in Ca2+/EGTA buffers. cAMP-induced insulin secretion occurred in the presence of either sub-stimulatory (50 nM) or stimulatory (greater than 100 nM) concentrations of Ca2+. Similar effects on secretion were obtained in response to 8-bromo-cAMP (8-Br-cAMP) or the phosphodiesterase inhibitor, 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine. Forskolin (0.2-20 microM) increased adenylate cyclase activity and enhanced insulin secretion from the permeabilised islets. These results suggest that, in electrically permeabilised islets, cAMP-induced insulin secretion is not dependent on changes in cytosolic Ca2+.