The fate of 6-deoxy-6-[
125I[iodo-
d-glucose (6-DIG), injected intravenously, was compared in control rats and animals that had received streptozotocin and were
then treated with insulin or not. In the control rats, the measurement of plasma radioactivity suggested that, after an initial
and rapid (up to min 10) distribution phenomenon (
K value: 12.2 × 10
−2 min
−1), the clearance of the iodinated hexose occurred mainly by glomerular filtration (
K value: 0.2 × 10
−2 min
−1). Three minutes after the injection of 6-DIG, the radioactive content of muscle, liver, and pancreas, relative to the paired
value in blood, was lower in untreated diabetic rats than in control animals. In the case of muscle and liver, such a difference
was no longer observed when the treatment of the diabetic rats by insulin resulted in restoration of normoglycemia. In the
pancreas, however, the radioactive content, whether expressed relative to the paired blood or liver value, remained significantly
lower in the insulin-treated diabetic rats than in the control animals. No significant difference between control and diabetic
rats, in terms of pancreatic radioactivity, was observed 10 min after the injection of 6-DIG. These findings indicate that
advantage can be taken from the vastly different time course for 6-DIG uptake by pancreatic acinar and islet cells, as recently
documented in vitro, to label preferentially the endocrine moiety of the pancreatic gland shortly after 6-DIG injection.
Key Words 6-Deoxy-6-[125I]iodo-d-glucose - streptozotocin-induced diabetes - liver - muscle - pancreas