Adrenal interference of insulin secretion after 14-days oestradiol treatment in female rats

Ovarian-adrenal interactions on insulin secretion during oestradiol treatment were studied in sham-operated, ovariectomized and adrenalectomized-ovariectomized female rats, the latter thus treated to suppress interference from endogenous hormones. Islets of Langerhans isolated from oestradiol or oestradiol + corticosterone treated and control rats were incubated with various glucose concentrations. Oestradiol treatment enhanced basal and glucose stimulated insulin secretion from sham-operated (+12%) or ovariectomized rats (+24%). This effect disappeared in adrenalectomized-ovariectomized rats but reappeared when adrenalectomized-ovariectomized rats were treated with oestradiol + corticosterone (+37%). A 14-day oestradiol treatment had a trophic effect on total protein content independent of adrenal presence (+14%; +15%; +31%; +23% versus respective control groups). Our data demonstrate that corticosterone is necessary for the stimulating effect of oestradiol on insulin secretion.