INSULIN-TREATMENT AFFECTS BRAIN PROTEIN-SYNTHESIS RATE IN STREPTOZOTOCIN-INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

The purpose of this study was to determine whether insulin treatment a ffected the rate of brain protein synthesis in diabetic rats. Experime nts were conducted on three groups of rats given streptozotocin withou t insulin treatment (diabetes), treated with streptozotocin + insulin (diabetes + insulin) or treated with neither streptozotocin nor insuli n (control). The fractional rates of protein synthesis in brain, liver and kidney of diabetic rats treated with insulin were significantly g reater than in diabetic rats without insulin treatment, In brain, live r and kidney, the RNA activity [g protein synthesized/(g RNA . d)] was significantly correlated with the fractional rate of protein synthesi s, The RNA concentration (mg RNA/g protein) was not related to the fra ctional rate of protein synthesis in any organ. The results suggest th at insulin treatment of diabetic rats is likely to increase the rate o f protein synthesis in the brain, and that RNA activity is related to the fractional rate of brain protein synthesis.