Effect of Insulin - Glucose Infusions on Plasma

This work was presented in part at the Southern Section, American Federation for Clinical Research, New Orleans, La., 1 February 1975, and the American Diabetes Association, New York, 17 June 1975. Dr. Raskin is a Veterans Administration Research Associate. Dr. Fujita's present address is the Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Received for publication 21 April 1975 and in revised form 25 June 1975. to between 300 and 600 ,uU/ml, differences from the hyperglycemic nondiabetics were no longer statistically significant. It is concluded that, contrary to the previously reported lack of insulin effect in diabetics during carbohydrate meals, intravenous administration for 2 h of physiologic amounts of insulin plus glucose is accompanied in unfed diabetics by a substantial decline in plasma glucagon. These levels are significantly above hyperglycemic nondiabetics at certain points but differ from normoglycemic nondiabetics only when expressed as percent of the baseline. At a supraphysiologic rate of insulin infusion in diabetics, these differences disappear.