Administration of
pertussis vaccine, consisting of whole, killed Bordetella pertussis organisms, causes
hyperinsulinemia and enhanced secretion of
insulin in response to a variety of
secretagogues in rats and mice. In examining the time course and properties of this phenomenon, we discovered two distinct and separate effects of the bacteria on
glucose and
insulin levels in mice. First, a heat-stable (80 degrees C for 30 min) component causes a brief
hyperinsulinemia which is +measureable by 1 h, maximal at 8 h, and ends in less than 48 h. This effect appears to be due to B.
pertussis endotoxin, is mimicked by
Escherichia coli endotoxin, and is associated with a transient, mild
hypoglycemia. Second, there is a heat-labile component of the B.
pertussis organism which induces a sustained (greater than 14 days), dose-dependent
hyperinsulinemia which reaches a maximum at 5 to 7 days and has no associated
hypoglycemia. The two effects are further distinguishable in that the early,
endotoxin-induced
hyperinsulinemia exhibits the normal suppressibility by exogenous
epinephrine, whereas
epinephrine markedly enhances the
hyperinsulinemia occurring at 7 days. These two effects of B.
pertussis appear to be mediated by different mechanisms and may be important in the well-recognized reactogenicity of
pertussis vaccine in humans.