INSULIN INACTIVATION BY HUMAN BLOOD CELLS AND PLASMA IN VITRO

Abstract

THE EFFECT OF INFECTION ON INSULIN ACTIVITY The inhibitory action of blood cells and plasma in vitro on insulin activity in the rabbit¹ offered a new means of study of the long known fact that infection has a severe and detrimental effect on the ability of the body to metabolize foods properly, especially foods containing the carbohydrates. This has been demonstrated both for the diabetic and for the nondiabetic person.² Insulin given to a person with an infection has less effect in lowering the blood sugar than it does on a normal person. During such periods, the sugar tolerance is diminished and, according to Richardson and Levine,³ carbohydrate oxidation is diminished. Explanation for this failure of insulin to have its usual effect during infection has been varied. The general clinical impression that, due to actual pancreatic injury, an inadequate supply of insulin is produced, is not very likely since exogenous