Premium
EFFECT OF INTRAVENOUS HYDROCORTISONE ADMINISTRATION ON GLUCOSE HOMEOSTASIS IN SMALL FOR GESTATIONAL AGE INFANTS
Author(s) -
SANN L.,
RUITTON A.,
MATHIEU M.,
LASNE Y.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1979.tb04970.x
Subject(s) - medicine , gestational age , hydrocortisone , small for gestational age , homeostasis , glucose homeostasis , administration (probate law) , anesthesia , pregnancy , insulin , insulin resistance , genetics , biology , political science , law
. The effects of I.V. hydrocortisone (H) (10 mg/kg) on glucose homeostasis were evaluated at 25 to 85 hours of age in 14 infants who were small for gestational age (SGA) in comparison to 17 control SGA infants. Three hours after H administration, higher levels of plasma glucose than in controls were detected (mean ±S.E.M.): 4.78±0.2 vs. 2.88±0.2 mmol/1 ( p <0.01), while lower levels were found for blood pyruvate (38±7 vs. 89±12 μmol/l— p <0.01), plasma insulin (6.4±0.5 vs. 12±0.8 μIU/ml— p <0.05) and plasma glucagon (62.25±6.6 vs. 81.6±6.6 pmol/l— p <0.05). Three hours after H administration, I.V. injection of l ‐alanine (150 mg/kg) produced a significant rise over baseline of plasma glucose concentration from 4.78±0.2 to 5.94±0.2 mmol/l at 50 min ( p <0.05), whereas no significant change was observed in controls. There was no significant change in plasma glucagon and insulin concentrations after l ‐alanine injection in either group. These results show that in SGA infants primed with H, the rise of plasma glucose concentration after l ‐alanine administration is observed with low plasma insulin levels and without stimulation of glucagon secretion. They suggest that H induced a reduced peripheral utilization of glucose by lowering the plasma levels of insulin and a production of glucose from alanine through gluconeogenesis.