Internalization of glimepiride and glibenclamide in the pancreatic B-cell

When rat pancreatic islets were exposed for 30 min at 37°C to tritiated glibenclamide (2.5 μM) or glimepiride (1.5 μM), internalization of these hypoglycaemic sulphonylureas in B and non-B cells was observed by autoradiography. In the B cell, the autoradiographic grains were often associated with secretory granules.