Primary hypothyroidism and the pituitary.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P Felig.
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It is suggested that hepatic uptake of orally ingested glucose depends not only on insulin secretion but also on the release of a gastrointestinal factor which mediates insulin action on the liver. In maturity-onset diabetes characterised by hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance, deficiency of this gastrointestinal factor may be the primary pathogenetic event leading to postprandial hyperglycaemia. Postprandial hyperglycaemia brings about an increase in insulin secretion; and hyperinsulinaemia, in turn, results in decreased binding of insulin to its receptor and in peripheral (extrahepatic) resistance to insulin.
125I-insulin binding to monocytes was examined in five children and one adult with isolated growth hormone deficiency before and after three to 12 weeks of growth hormone treatment, and in eight controls. Before treatment, mean plasma glucose was 15 mg per deciliter below controls, and plasma insulin was reduced by 40 per cent. Insulin binding to monocytes was 70 per cent greater than controls (P less than 0.005). Insulin-mediated glucose uptake (determined in the adult patient) was 25 per cent greater than mean control levels. After treatment, plasma glucose rose to control levels, plasma insulin increased to 75 per cent above controls (P less than 0.01), and insulin binding fell to 50 per cent below controls (P less than 0.01). Insulin-mediated glucose uptake fell to 30 per cent below the mean control rate. Insulin binding increases in growth hormone deficiency and falls after treatment. These changes may contribute to alterations in insulin sensitivity accompanying altered growth hormone availability.
The effect of routine skin preparation on skin bacterial flora was measured in thirteen insulin-dependent diabetic patients. 5 seconds of skin cleansing of sites on the leg, arm, and abdomen with 70% isopropyl alcohol reduced bacterial counts by 82-91%. During a 3-5 month observation period the subjects omitted skin preparation before insulin injection every other week. More than 1700 insulin injections were given without skin preparation. No signs of local or systemic infection were observed. These results indicate that routine skin preparation with alcohol before insulin injection markedly reduces skin bacterial-counts but may not be necessary to prevent infection at the injection sites.
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To examine the effects of leg exercise on insulin absorption from various injection sites, 125I-labelled rapid actin insulin (9 units) was injected subcutaneously into the leg, arm or abdomen of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes before one hour of intermittent leg (bicycle) exercise and on a resting, control day. Insulin disappearance from the leg increased by 135 per cent during the first 10 minutes of leg exercise (P less than 0.05) and remained 50 per cent above resting levels after 60 minutes (P less than 0.02). Leg exercise had no effect on insulin disappearance from the arm, but insulin disappearance from the abdomen was reduced during the post-exercise recovery period (P less than 0.02). As compared to leg injection, arm or abdominal injection reduced the hypoglycemic effect of exercise by 57 per cent (P less than 0.02) and 89 per cent (P less than 0.005), respectively. Leg exercise accelerates insulin absorption from the leg. Arm or abdominal injection avoids this acceleration during leg exercise and reduces exercise-induced hypoglycemia.
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Oral glucose tolerance was examined in five maturity-onset diabetics during the infusion of somatostatin or saline. Somatostatin inhibited glucose-stimulated insulin release and reduced plasma glucagon by 50%--65%. The rise in plasma glucose after glucose ingestion was initially (at 30--120 min) reduced by somatostatin. However, beyond 3 hr, plasma glucose levels were 50--200 mg/100 ml higher, with somatostatin reaching concentrations at 6 hr that were twofold higher than those observed with saline ( p less than 0.005). The degree of late glucose intolerance was inversely related to postglucose plasma insulin concentrations (p less than 0.01). These findings demonstrate a biphasic effect of somatostatin on oral glucose tolerance in maturity-onset diabetes. The exaggerated later hyperglycemia is related to suppression of insulin secretion. The initial blunting of postprandial hyperglycemia may reflect decreased carbohydrate absorption and/or hypoglucagonemia-mediated enhancement of glucose disposal.
Techniques have been developed for examining the binding of insulin to its target cells and for evaluating the in vivo action of insulin, rekindling interest in the possible role of insulin resistance in adult-onset diabetes. A host of new data have accumulated regarding the contribution of glucagon to the syndrome.
The effects of hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, and the route of glucose administration on total glucose utilization and on net splanchnic glucose exchange were studied in 20 normal volunteers with the hepatic venous catheter technique. Euglycemic hyperinsulinemia [induced by a priming plus continuous infusion of insulin resulting in plasma insulin levels of 400-1200 muunits (international)/ml and a variable glucose infusion] caused a 5- to 6-fold increase above basal in total glucose turnover. However, net splanchnic glucose uptake (0.5 +/- 0.2 mg/kg per min) accounted for only 4-5% of total glucose utilization. When hyperglycemia (223 +/- 1 mg/dl) was induced in addition to hyperinsulinemia by the intravenous infusion of glucose, splanchnic glucose uptake increased 100% to 1.0-1.1 mg/kg per min but was still responsible for only 10-14% of total glucose utilization. In other studies hyperglycemia (223 +/- 2 mg/dl) was maintained constant by a variable intravenous infusion of glucose for 4 hr and oral glucose (1.2 gm/kg) was administered at 1 hr. After the oral glucose, net splanchnic glucose uptake increased to values 6-fold higher than with intravenous glucose despite unchanged plasma glucose levels and plasma insulin concentrations well below those observed in the studies with euglycemic hyperinsulinemia. The results indicate that hyperinsulinemia or hyperglycemia induced by intravenous infusion of glucose or insulin causes minimal net uptake of glucose by the splanchnic bed despite marked stimulation of total glucose turnover. In contrast, administration of glucose by the oral route has a marked stimulatory effect on net splanchnic glucose uptake. These findings suggest that orally consumed glucose causes the release of a gastrointestinal factor that enhances insulin-mediated glucose uptake by the liver.
Glucose (100 g) was ingested 15 min after bicycle exercise until exhaustion at a work load corresponding to 70% of maximal uptake (series 1), 14--15 h after an identical exercise period, no food being taken in the interval (series 2), and by nonexercised control subjects. Splanchnic glucose output in the exercised groups rose to values 50--300% greater than in controls, amounting to (over 135 min) 59 +/- 5 g in series 1 and 58 +/- 6 in series 2 compared to 28 +/- 6 in controls. The glycogen concentration of quadriceps muscle in series 1 was 65 +/- 2 mmol glycosyl U/kg wet wt before exercise, 16 +/- 13 at the end of work, and 32 +/- 4 at 135 min after glucose ingestion. In series 2, muscle glycogen concentration was 20 +/- 3 immediately after exercise and rose to 44 +/- 5 over the ensuing 14--15 h in spite of continued fasting. It rose to 56 +/- 3 at 135 min after glucose loading. Repletion of leg muscle glycogen after glucose feeding could account for 50--66% of total splanchnic glucose release. It is concluded that during postexercise recovery, a greater proportion of an oral glucose load escapes hepatic retention, allowing repletion of muscle glycogen to take precedence over hepatic glycogen repletion.
Conscious dogs were infused with 1) glucagon (3 ng/kg.min) alone for 120 min followed by glucagon plus epinephrine (0.1 microgram/kg.min) for 60 min and 2) epinephrine alone (150 min) followed by epinephrine plus glucagon for 90 min. Glucagon alone caused a 10--15 mg/dl rise in plasma glucose and a 45% increase in glucose production that returned to baseline by 75--120 min. After addition of epinephrine, glucose production rose again by 80%. Infusion of epinephrine alone resulted in unchanged plasma glucagon levels, a 60--70 mg/dl rise in plasma glucose, and an 80--100% rise in glucose production that returned to baseline by 60--120 min. When glucagon was added, glucose output promptly rose again by 85%. When glucagon was infused alone, there was a rise in glucose uptake, whereas, with epinephrine, glucose uptake failed to rise and glucose clearance fell by 35--50%. We conclude that 1) hepatic refractoriness to persistent elevations of glucagon or epinephrine is specific for the hormone infused; 2) epinephrine stimulates glucose production in the conscious dog in the absence of a rise in plasma glucagon; 3) the hyperglycemic response to glucagon or epinephrine is determined in part by accompanying changes in glucose utilization.
To examine the role of basal insulin and glucagon secretion in potassium and sodium homeostasis, somatostatin, a potent inhibitor of insulin and glucagon secretion, was infused for 5 h into healthy human subjects, maturity-onset diabetes, juvenile-onset diabetics, and normal dogs. Infusion of somatostatin resulted in an increase in serum potassium (0.5-0.6 meq/liter) in normal subjects and maturity-onset diabetics, but not in juvenile-onset diabetics despite equivalent reductions in plasma glucagon in all three groups. A similar rise in serum potassium was observed in normal conscious dogs given somatostatin and was reversed by insulin replacement. Urinary excretion of potassium was unaffected by somatostatin. In dogs given intravenous potassium chloride in doses (0.375 meq/kg per h) which do not alter basal insulin levels, the rise in serum potassium (0.6 meq/liter in controls) increased 100% when somatostatin was administered together with the KCl infusion. Addition of replacement doses of insulin to the somatostatin infusion resulted in increments in serum potassium which were comparable to infusion of KCl alone. Urinary potassium excretion rose after KCl administration and was unchanged by the addition of somatostatin. Serum sodium concentration was unaffected by somatostatin administration in both the human and dog studies. However, urinary sodium excretion displayed a biphasic response falling by 20-60% within the first 2 h of somatostatin administration and then rising to values 50-80% above basal levels at 3-4 h. Inulin and p-aminohippurate clearances were unaffected by somatostatin. It is concluded that (a) potassium homeostasis is influenced by basal insulin levels in the absence of which serum potassium concentration rises and potassium tolerance declines; (b) this effect of insulin is mediated via extrarenal mechanisms of potassium disposal; (c) somatostatin has a biphasic effect on urinary sodium secretion, the mechanism of which remains to be established.
To investigate the role of hepatic glucagon receptors in the hypersensitivity to glucagon observed in insulin-deprived diabetics, liver plasma membranes were prepared from control rats and from streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats some of whom were treated with high-dose and low-dose insulin. The untreated diabetic animals exhibited hyperglycemia, weight loss, hypoinsulinemia, and hyperglucagonemia. High-dose insulin treatment (2 U Protamine-zinc-insulin/100 g per day) resulted in normoglycemia, normal weight gain, mild hyperinsulinemia, and return of glucagon levels toward base line. The low-dose (1 U protamine-zinc-insulin/100 g per day) insulin-treated diabetic group demonstrated chemical changes intermediate between the untreated and the high-dose insulin-treated animals. In liver plasma membranes from the untreated diabetic rats, specific binding of (125)I-glucagon was increased by 95%. Analysis of binding data suggested that the changes in glucagon binding were a consequence of alterations in binding capacity rather than changes in binding affinity. Furthermore, in the untreated diabetic rats, both basal and glucagon (2 muM)-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity were twofold higher than in controls. In the high-dose insulin-treated diabetic rats, glucagon binding and basal and glucagon-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity were normalized to control values, whereas low-dose insulin treatment resulted in changes intermediate between control and untreated diabetic rats. In contrast to glucagon-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity, fluoride-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity was similar in all groups of rats. Liver plasma membranes from untreated and insulin-treated diabetic animals degraded (125)I-glucagon to the same extent as control rats. The specific binding of (125)I-insulin in the untreated diabetic animals was 40% higher than in control rats. In low-dose insulin-treated diabetic rats, insulin binding was not significantly different from that of control rats, whereas in the high-dose insulin-treated group in whom plasma insulin was 70% above control levels, insulin binding was 30% lower than in control rats. These findings suggest that alterations in glucagon receptors may contribute to the augmented glycemic and ketonemic response to glucagon observed in insulin-deprived diabetics.
Insulin binding to monocytes and insulin action in vivo was examined in 14 obese subjects during the postabsorptive state and after starvation and refeeding. Tissue sensitivity to insulin was evaluated with the euglycemic insulin clamp technique. The plasma insulin concentration is acutely raised and maintained 100 muU/ml above the fasting level, and plasma glucose is held constant by a variable glucose infusion. The amount of glucose infused is a measure of tissue sensitivity to insulin and averaged 285+/-15 mg/m(2) per min in controls compared to 136+/-13 mg/m(2) per min in obese subjects (P <0.001). (125)I-Insulin binding to monocytes averaged 8.3+/-0.4% in controls vs. 4.6+/-0.5% in obese subjects (P < 0.001). Insulin binding and insulin action were highly correlated in both control (r = 0.86, P < 0.001) and obese (r = 0.94, P < 0.001) groups. Studies employing tritiated glucose to measure glucose production indicated hepatic as well as extrahepatic resistance to insulin in obesity. After 3 and 14 days of starvation, insulin sensitivity in obese subjects decreased to 69+/-4 and 71+/-7 mg/m(2) per min, respectively, whereas (125)I-insulin binding increased to 8.8+/-0.7 and 9.0+/-0.4%. In contrast to the basal state, there was no correlation between insulin binding and insulin action. After refeeding, tissue sensitivity increased to 168+/-14 mg/m(2) per min (P < 0.001) whereas insulin binding fell to 5.0+/-0.3%. We conclude that (a) in the postabsorptive state insulin binding to monocytes provides an index of in vivo insulin action in nonobese and obese subjects and, (b) during starvation and refeeding, insulin binding and insulin action changes in opposite directions suggesting that postreceptor events determine in vivo insulin sensitivity.
The effect of exercise on 125I-insulin binding to monocytes was studied in 10 healthy subjects. We found that acute exercise (bicycle ergometer for 3 h) led to a significant increase (36%) in insulin binding to monocytes, which returned to basal levels by 24 h after exercise. The changes in insulin binding were mainly due to an increase in receptor affinity. The increase in insulin binding during exercise correlated with the fall in plasma glucose but not with the decrease in plasma insulin or increase in blood ketones. We conclude that acute exercise increases insulin binding which may contribute to augmented insulin sensitivity associated with exercise.