HEPATIC INSUFFICIENCY AND CIRRHOSIS IN DIABETES MELLITUS

Abstract

CONTRARY to general belief, there appears to be a paucity of clinical studies on the pathologic effect of diabetes mellitus on the cellular structure and function of the liver. It is through the fine work and attractive theories of Soskin that the spotlight of diabetic investigation has again found the liver. This organ, with its multiplicity of function, is gradually emerging from a veil of mystery that has long surrounded it and is being forced to reveal its secrets through the careful and persevering study of the biochemist, physiologist and pathologist and, by means of their efforts, to the clinician. If, as Soskin and Levine¹ suggested, the liver is the regulatory organ, the thermostat in determining the blood level of glucose, does hepatic dysfunction disrupt this fine balance and act to produce abnormalities of glycemia, or, on the other hand, do wide sweeps in diabetic control result in disturbance