Effect of insulin on characteristics of contractile responses of fast and slow skeletal muscles of rats with acute streptozotocin-induced diabetes

Comparison of amplitude-time characteristics of fast extensor digitorum longus muscles (m. EDL) isolated from control rats and rats with model of acute streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus (DM) 12 and 30 days after treatment with streptozotozin did not reveal significant changes of strength of single normalized contractile responses as compared with control. In slow (m. Soleus) muscles of rats with the 30-day long SD, essential changes of the amplitude-time characteristics of such contractile responses were observed: a decrease of their amplitude and an increase of duration. In the diabetic rats treated with insulin there develops resistance of skeletal muscles of both types to action of exogenous insulin. Both in control and in diabetic animals the exhausting stimulation of m. EDL with trains from 5 impulses did not reveal significant differences at early (up to 3 min) terms of development of fatigue. Under similar conditions, fatigue of m. Soleus in rats of the both diabetic groups developed significantly faster as compared with control (already in 30 s after the beginning of stimulation). Insulin at a concentration of 0.5–1 nM produced a dose-dependent decrease of amplitude of single contractile responses in fast and slow muscles of rats with the acute SD model (the negative inotropic action). Earlier, we demonstrated in healthy rats the similar action of insulin, but at the higher concentrations 1]. Insulin at a concentration of 10 nM did not produce an essential effect on dynamics of depression of responses in the course of development of fatigue at tetanical stimulation of m. EDL and m. Soleus both in control and in diabetic rats, but affected essentially the dynamics of change of duration of the half-decay (T_hd) of their tetanical responses. The presence of insulin in the washing solution led to stabilization of the period of muscle relaxation in the course of development of fatigue in all studied animal groups.