Effect of Insulin on the Adrenergic Amines of Blood

Abstract

IT is generally assumed that the stimulation of adrenalin secretion which is observed after insulin administration is a reaction not caused by insulin itself but by the hypoglycæmia which it produces. It has also often been claimed, with and without supporting evidence, that insulin hypoglycæmia is accompanied by hyperadrenalinæmia. This claim is not correct, as has recently been shown¹. The intravenous injection of insulin in fasting subjects leads to an immediate and pronounced drop of the level of adrenergic amines in plasma which precedes the fall of the blood sugar. Likewise, in the recovery period, the return of the level of adrenergic amines to the norm precedes the rise of the blood sugar curve. If coma doses of insulin are injected the plasma-level of adrenergic amines remains depressed, until the coma is terminated by glucose administration. The effect of insulin is also observed, although in mild and modified form, if the development of hypoglycæmia is prevented by a preceding glucose ingestion.