Verapamil Prevents the Metabolic and Functional Derangements in Pancreatic Islets of Chronic Renal Failure Rats*

Glucose-induced insulin secretion is impaired in rats with chronic renal failure (CRF), and this defect is due to PTH-induced derangement in the metabolism of pancreatic islets, including an elevated basal level of intracellular calcium, low basal ATP content, low glucose-stimulated ATP and ATP/ADP ratio, and decreased maximum velocity of Ca(2+)-ATPase. Chronic treatment of CRF rats with verapamil prevented the impairment of insulin secretion. The present study examined the mechanism through which verapamil exerts this action. CRF rats treated with verapamil had high levels of serum PTH, but normal basal ATP content, a greater rise in ATP and ATP/ADP ratio after exposure to glucose, normal intracellular calcium and higher maximum velocity of Ca(2+)-ATPase. The results demonstrate that treatment of CRF rats with verapamil was associated with marked improvement or normalization of the CRF-induced metabolic derangements in pancreatic islets despite no effect on the serum level of PTH. The data are consistent with the notion that verapamil prevents the derangements in insulin secretion in CRF rats by blocking the action of PTH on the islets.