This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by KUSUNOKI, M. Articles by UTSUNOMIYA, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by KUSUNOKI, M. Articles by UTSUNOMIYA, J.

The Effects of Sodium Valproate on Plasma Somatostatin and Insulin in Humans

Second Department of Surgery, Hyogo College of Medicine 1-1 Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663, Japan

To determine the role of -aminobutyric acid (GABA) in islet tissue, sodium valproate (1600 mg/day) was administered for 6 days to 10 normal subjects and 1 patient with a somatostatinoma. Plasma valproate concentrations reached a steady state by the third day accompanied by elevation of plasma GABA concentrations. Sodium valproate administration resulted in a 40% decrease in plasma somatostatin concentrations in the normal subjects and a 63% decrease in the somatostatinoma patient, respectively, compared to the response to placebo. Plasma C-peptide concentrations did not change in any subject. Fasting blood glucose levels decreased in the somatostatinoma patient during sodium valproate administration. These results suggest that endogenous GABA may play some role in the release of somatostatin, but not in the release of insulin.

^* To whom all correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed.

Received December 7, 1987.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Verrotti, F. Basciani, M. De Simone, D. Trotta, G. Morgese, and F. Chiarelli Insulin Resistance in Epileptic Girls Who Gain Weight After Therapy With Valproic Acid J Child Neurol, April 1, 2002; 17(4): 265 - 268. [Abstract] [PDF]