Glucose Utilization and Lactate Production by Leucocytes of Patients with Diabetes Mellitus.

Abstract

Glucose utilization and lactate production by leukocytes were studied in normal human subjects and in patients with diabetes mellitus who required 30 or more units of insulin daily. The leukocytes were obtained from venous blood specimens by a dextran sedimentation method. Glucose uptake and lactate production were measured in plasma at 37[degree]C. Glucose uptake by leukocytes from fasting normal subjects averaged 0.35 [plus or minus] 0.03 (mean [plus or minus] standard error) [mu]moles/ hour/10 million cells and 0.45 [plus or minus] 0.04 [mu]moles/hour by leukocytes from nonfasting normal subjects. Glucose uptake by cells from diabetic subjects averaged 0.22 [plus or minus] 0.04 [mu]moles/hour and was significantly lower than in either group of normals. No significant differences were observed in lactate production which averaged 0.79 [plus or minus] 0.11 [mu]moles/hour by leukocytes from fasting normal subjects, 1.01 [plus or minus] 0.13 [mu]moles/hour by cells from nonfasting normals, and 0.81 t 0.12 [mu]moles/hour by cells from the diabetics. The addition of insulin in vitro in concentrations up to 0.5 units per ml resulted in increases in glucose utilization greater than the probable difference between duplicate experiments in 14 of 26 experiments on normal subjects, and in 11 of 13 experiments on diabetic subjects. Lactate production was not influenced by in vitro insulin. Glucose utilization by the leukocytes was significantly depressed in diabetic patients requiring moderately large amounts of insulin and the addition of insulin in vitro increased the rate of glucose uptake by the white blood cells of both diabetic and normal human subjects.