Neuropharmacology of the Pancreatic Islets

Following the discovery that insulin and glucagon are produced by the pancreatic islets, a vast literature has accumulated concerning the role of substrates, non pan­ creatic hormones, and intracellular factors in the control of islet hormone release. The results of such work are the subject of several reviews (1-4) and therefore are not covered in-depth in this paper. More recently, however, it has been appreciated that the nervous system is also intimately involved in the regulation of endocrine pancreatic secretion. The purpose of this review is to discuss the anatomic, physi­ ologic, and pharmacologic evidence for the role of neural factors in the regulation of insulin and glucagon secretion, and to demonstrate that the endocrine pancreas is an important neuroendocrine organ.