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Glucose intolerance in acute infections
Author(s) -
SAMMALKORPI K.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.625
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1365-2796
pISSN - 0954-6820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2796.1989.tb00030.x
Subject(s) - medicine , intensive care medicine
. To evaluate the influence of an infective agent, severity of infection and the age of the patient on infection‐induced glucose intolerance, concentrations of fasting blood glucose, serum insulin ( n = 31) and plasma glucagon ( n = 22) were measured and the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was carried out ( n = 26) during acute and convalescence phases and after complete recovery in patients with viral ( n = 17) or bacterial ( n = 14) infections. Serum insulin was increased ( P < 0.001) but plasma glucagon was decreased ( P < 0.01) both during acute infection and the convalescence period. In the acute stage, 2‐h values of blood glucose ( P < 0.01) and serum insulin concentrations ( P < 0.001) during OGTT were elevated. The index of insulin resistance (glucose x insulin) was increased by 33% during infection and by 28% during convalescence ( P < 0.001). The observed changes did not correlate with the severity of infection, were more pronounced in younger patients than in older ones and were not dependent on the infective agent. It is clinically important to recognize that the restoration of insulin sensitivity takes longer than the immediate recovery period from the infection.