Disposal of Glucose at High and Normal1 Blood Sugar Levels under Action of Insulin

Abstract

It is of practical importance in the treatment of diabetic patients to know if there is a difference in the rate of disappearance of glucose under the action of insulin at different blood-sugar levels. Our interest in this problem was aroused during routine observations on diabetic patients. We observed a patient on insulin with the blood sugar in the normal range who did not excrete the extra glucose ingested when placed on a high carbohydrate diet with the same insulin dose. The latter regime was associated with a high blood-sugar level and the result was similar to that which has been reported by others (1, 2, 3). This paper summarises the results of a study of the disposal of glucose at normal and high blood-sugar levels under the action of the same amount of insulin. The study was made on depancreatized animals as well as diabetic patients.