Role of the kidneys in hyperglycemia provoked by anti-insulin serum in rats

Abstract

The hyperglycemic response to two 2-ml injections of guinea pig anti-insulin serum (GPAIS), given at a 1.5 h interval, was measured after 18 h of fast in nephrectomized rats, intact animals and animals with anuria caused by ligating the ureters. In controls plasma glucose rose by ~-196• rag/100 ml within 1.5 h after GPAIS injection, then levelled off with the onset of glucosuria and began to decline at 4.5 h. Anuria due to ureteral obstruction did not affect the initial rise of plasma glucose (~-197• ll.9mg/100ml at 1.5h). In contrast, the initial rise of plasma glucose amounted to only-~-136 ~ 5.3 mg/100 ml at 1.5 h in nephrectomized rats. Blood sugar remained lower in the latter animals than in those with ligated ureters for the rest of the experiment. The blunted glycemic response to GPAIS in anephrie rats, thus, is due to the loss of kidney tissue per se. It is suggested that, after sudden insulin deprivation, the kidneys might release sizeable amounts of newly synthesized glucose into the circulation.