CLINICAL STUDIES ON BLOOD SUGAR REGULATION OF THE LIVER (PART 3)

Abstract

Initial hyperglycemia and serial hypoglycemia after intravenous injection of insulin which contained H-G-F i.e. “Glucagon” were observed with normal and patients of various hepatic and endocrine diseases. It was proved that in hepatic patients the initial elevating effect and serial lowering effect of regular insulin upon arterial blood sugar level was not marked compared with that on control cases without hepatic damage. Using hepatic venous catheterization, the increase of hepatic sugar output in these cases was found to precede the initial elevation of arterial blood sugar, and its sub-sequent change was found to decrease parallel to arterial blood sugar level. The return to the initial blood sugar level from hypoglycemia was prolonged in hepatic patients. Blood sugar curve after insulin injection reflects carbohydrate metabolism of the liver but also may be influenced by extrahepatic hormonal regulation. From the above observations it was concluded that examination of the blood sugar changes after insulin injection have diagnostic value to estimate the severity of hepatic damage when endocrine disturbances were excluded.