Immediate But Not Long-Term Administration of Nicardipine Inhibits Tolbutamide-Induced Insulin Secretion From Rat Pancreatic β Cells

Calcium channel blockers alter glucose homeostasis, but sufficient data regarding this effect in healthy animals have not been provided. We test the effect of nicardipine on beta cell function in healthy rats.Islets from Sprague-Dawley rats were coincubated with nicardipine, tolbutamide, or their combination for 1 hour. Insulin secretion was measured by radioimmunoassay. The rats were given nicardipine, tolbutamide, or their combination by...