Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Man

Abstract

PreliminaryCommunications BRNAH 529 tolerance test, was observed in spite of a markedly prolonged hypoglycaemia. COMMENT In all five subjects studied the mean half relaxation time increased after intravenous glucose administration and decreased after intravenous insulin administration. The increase during the glucose-tolerance test was slow and lagged considerably behind the peak of blood glucose concentration, while the decrease during the insulin-tolerance test was fast and coincided with the drop in blood glucose. This difference in the time relation between blood glucose concentration and half relaxation time in the two tests makes a direct effect of blood glucose on the half relaxation time unlikely. There seems more likely to be an indirect effect, mediated perhaps through a carbohydrate-regulating hormone like adrenaline, growth hormone, or cortisol. The absence of a decrease of the half relaxation time after simultaneous administration of insulin and propranolol suggests that the changes of blood glucose influence the half relaxation time by intermediary of the adrenaline system.Whether the changes of the Achilles tendon reflexogram in thyroid disorders and in diabetes mellitus are related to the adrenaline system requires further investigation. SUMMARYIn five normal subjects the Achilles tendon reflex time was prolonged by intravenous glucose and shortened by intravenous insulin administration. The effect of insulin was abolished when it was given after the application of propranolol.