Errol B. Marliss

Glucagon levels and metabolic effects in fasting man

The role of glucagon in the metabolic adaptation to prolonged fasting in man has been examined. Plasma immunoreactive glucagon was determined during 6-wk fasts and during infusion of exogenous glucagon using an assay which minimized nonpancreatic immunoreactivity. Plasma glucagon concentrations rose twofold to a peak on the 3rd day of fasting and then declined thereafter to a level maintained at or above postabsorptive. Insulin concentration declined to a plateau by the 3rd day. Thus a persisting altered relationship of glucagon and insulin concentrations characterized the fasted state. A synergism of low insulin and relative or absolute elevation of glucagon levels is viewed as a hormonal mechanism controlling the rate of hepatic substrate extraction for gluconeogenesis. Glucagon was infused systemically into 4-6 wk fasted subjects at three dose levels. A marked sensitivity of individual plasma free amino acids to the induced elevations of plasma glucagon within the physiologic range was demonstrated. At higher concentrations, equivalent to those present in the portal vein, stimulation of hepatic gluconeogenesis occurred, and the effects on glucose, insulin, and growth hormone levels and on ketone metabolism were induced.

Muscle and splanchnic glutamine and glutamate metabolism in postabsorptive and starved man

Arterio-venous differences across forearm muscle in man in both prolonged starvation and in the postabsorptive state, show an uptake of glutamate and a relatively greater production of glutamine. Splanchnic arteriovenous differences in the postabsorptive state show a net uptake of glutamine and lesser rate of glutamate production. These data suggest that muscle is a major site of glutamine synthesis in man, and that the splanchnic bed is a site of its removal. The relative roles of liver and other tissues in the splanchnic circuit were not directly assessed, only the net balance. These data in man are in conflict with most previous studies in other species attributing the major proportion of glutamine production to the liver and, pari passu, to the splanchnic bed.

Protein-sparing therapy in postoperative patients. Effects of added hypocaloric glucose or lipid.

In patients receiving hypocaloric total parenteral nutrition, protein sparing with infusions of amino acids alone is alleged to occur because low insulin levels allow mobilization of endogenous fat. Four groups of patients studied for their first four postoperative days received all their nutrition parenterally as: 150 g per day of glucose, protein (as amino acids, 1 g per kilogram per day) alone, protein plus 50 g per day of soybean-oil emulsion or protein plus 150 g per day of glucose. All groups of patients receiving protein had lesser negative nitrogen balance than patients receiving glucose alone. The addition of glucose to protein did not increase negative nitrogen balance. The protein-sparing effect of amino acids appears to be a function of the infused amino acids alone and is not related to the degree of endogenous fat mobilization.

The Cerebrospinal Fluid in Diabetic Ketoacidosis

Abstract Cerebrospinal fluid and blood were studied in six patients with ketoacidosis before and four to nine hours after treatment, when neurologic improvement began. Alkali was excluded from the ...

Glucose and lipid homeostasis in the absence of human growth hormone.

To clarify the role of insulin and growth hormone (HGH) in regulating substrate production for body fuel during prolonged starvation, 6 normal subjects and 10 HGH-deficient dwarfs were fasted for 6 days. Four of these dwarfs received HGH during the fast. Blood glucose concentration decreased a mean 15 mg/100 ml in both controls and HGH-treated dwarfs, but decreased 50 mg/100 ml in untreated dwarfs. The final level at which the blood glucose stabilized was significantly higher in the former two groups (65 +/-1.0 mg/100 ml and 88 +/-19 mg/100 ml, respectively, versus 39.0 +/-4.0 mg/100 ml in the untreated dwarfs). The decline in plasma insulin concentration showed a comparable pattern, decreasing from a similar basal level to 7.7 +/-0.4 muU/ml in controls, 8.8 +/-1.1 muU/ml in dwarfs treated with HGH, and to a significantly lower level of 3.8 +/-1.1 muU/ml in untreated dwarfs. When glucose concentrations were plotted against paired insulin values, the correlation in both dwarfs and normals was significant. In normals, no correlation existed at any time between plasma HGH levels and plasma concentration of either glucose or free fatty acid. Free fatty acid, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and acetoacetate increased respectively in normals to peak concentrations in plasma of 1.55 +/-0.11, 2.87 +/-0.23, and 0.77 +/-0.09 mmoles/liter. Untreated dwarfs had significantly greater values of all three (mean maximal concentration: FFA = 2.16 +/-0.17 mmoles/liter, beta-hydroxybutyrate = 4.11 +/-0.34 mmoles/liter, and acetoacetate = 1.16 +/-0.10 mmoles/liter). Values returned toward normal in HGH-treated dwarfs. The cahnges in plasma concentrations of beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate were not due to changes in renal excretion. In starvation, the relation between insulin on the one hand and glucose and free fatty acid on the other hand is maintained in the absence of HGH. However, the setting of blood glucose concentration at which this relation takes place is decreased in the absence of HGH. This results in a lower than normal insulin level and, consequently, in a higher than normal free fatty acid concentration.

Metabolic Response to Human Growth Hormone during Prolonged Starvation

The metabolic response to human growth hormone (HGH) was studied in five obese subjects in the fed state and during prolonged (5-6 wk) starvation. In the fed state (three subjects), HGH induced an elevation in basal serum insulin concentration, a minimal increase in blood and urine ketone levels, and a marked reduction in urinary nitrogen and potassium excretion resulting in positive nitrogen and potassium balance. In prolonged fasting (four subjects), HGH administration resulted in a 2- to 3-fold increase in serum insulin which preceded a 50% elevation in blood glucose. Persistence of the lipolytic effects of HGH was indicated by a rise in free fatty acids and glycerol. The response differed markedly from the fed state in that blood beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate levels rose by 20-40%, resulting in total blood ketone acid concentrations of 10-12 mmoles/liter, ketonuria of 150-320 mmoles/day, and increased urinary potassium loss. The subjects complained of nausea, vomiting, weakness, and myalgias. Despite a 50% reduction in urea excretion during HGH administration, total nitrogen loss remained unchanged as urinary ammonia excretion rose by 50% and correlated directly with the degree of ketonuria. It is concluded that in prolonged starvation (a) HGH may have a direct insulinotropic effect on the beta cell independent of alterations in blood glucose concentration, (b) persistence of the lipolytic action of HGH results in severe exaggeration of starvation ketosis and interferes with its anticatabolic action by necessitating increased urinary ammonia loss, and (c) failure of HGH to reduce net protein catabolism in starvation suggests that this hormone does not have a prime regulatory role in conserving body protein stores during prolonged fasting.

Role of substrate in the regulation of hepatic gluconeogenesis in fasting man

Abstract Prolonged starvation is characterized by diminished hepatic gluconeogenesis and sparing of body protein. Decreased hepatic uptake of amino acids is due to a marked diminution in plasma alanine inasmuch as fractional extraction remains unchanged. Administration of exogenous alanine results in a prompt hyperglycemic response. The data suggest that provision of precursor substrate is the rate-limiting step in the control of hepatic gluconeogenesis in prolonged starvation in man.

Effect of Ketosis on Respiratory Sensitivity to Carbon Dioxide in Obesity

We investigated whether the respiratory defect in the obesity-hypoventilation syndrome might respond to dietary manipulation. The effects of hypocaloric ketogenic regimens on the ventilatory response to carbon dioxide were studied in a manner excluding changes in weight or thoracic mechanics as factors. Six obese subjects with hyporesponse (less than 1.1 1/min/mm Hg) and 12 with normal response were fasted or given a diet containing 400 kcal per day of protein. During ketosis carbon dioxide response more than doubled in those with hyporesponse (0.8 +/- 0.1 to 1.8 +/- 1/min/mm Hg, P less than 0.05) but was unchanged in those with normal response. This improvement could not be accounted for by changes in weight, pulmonary function, pH or degree of ketosis between the two groups. However, a significant positive (r = 0.70; P less than 0.001) correlation between ketone-body concentrations and carbon dioxide response was observed in subjects with hyporesponse. These results indicate that depressed sensitivity to carbon dioxide in obese patients can be increased by dietary manipulation.

Hormones and substrates in the regulation of gluconeogenesis in fasting man.

Abstract Attenuation of hepatic gluconeogenesis in prolonged-fasted man as a mechanism of protein conservation is achieved by diminished presentation of precursor substrate (mainly alanine). This has been shown to result from decreased release of amino acids from their stores in skeletal muscle. Exogenous growth hormone fails to enhance conservation of body protein. Inasmuch as the endogenous levels of growth hormone are not changed, the data presented suggest that it is not the prime agent minimizing protein breakdown. Glucagon lowers plasma amino acids and though hepatic gluconeogenesis is augmented an influence on muscle amino acid release is not exclued. Synergism between normal or elevated endogenous glucagon and low insulin may determine the proportion of substrate extracted by the liver.

Insulin: Sixty Years of Use

January 11, 1982, was the sixtieth anniversary of the first injection of exogenous insulin into a diabetic person. The discovery of insulin, credited to two University of Toronto scientists, Freder...