Intravenous glucose tolerance in negro men deficient in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase.

Abstract

Standard intravenous, cortisone-modified intravenous and oral glucose tolerance tests were carried out in 10 Negro men with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) deficiency and in 10 normal Negro men. The mean age and weight were identical in the G-6-PD-deficient and the normal men. No significant differences were demonstrated between mean blood glucose levels in the G-6-PD-deficient men and those in the normal men during standard oral glucose tolerance tests. In contrast, the results of both the standard and the cortisone-modified intravenous glucose tolerance tests revealed significantly higher blood glucose levels in the G-6-PD-deficient men at 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 minutes. Despite the higher blood glucose levels, mean serum immunoreactive insulin levels in the G-6-PD-deficient men were not significantly different from those in the normal men. Additional evidence of altered glucose metabolism associated with G-6-PD deficiency is thus provided.