Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Vol 74, 673-679, Copyright © 1992 by Endocrine Society

ARTICLES

Mechanisms of hepatic and peripheral insulin resistance during acute infections in humans

A Virkamaki, I Puhakainen, VA Koivisto, H Vuorinen-Markkola and H Yki-Jarvinen
Second Department of Medicine, Helsinki University, Finland.

To examine mechanisms of insulin resistance, nine patients (age 33 +/- 4 yr, body mass index 22 +/- 1 kg/m2) with acute bacterial or viral infections and in six matched normal subjects were studied. Endogenous glucose appearance (Ra), glucose disappearance (Rd), and recycling, the percentage of plasma lactate originating from plasma glucose, total glucose oxidation, and whole body and forearm muscle Rd were measured after an overnight fast in the basal state and during physiological hyperinsulinemia (serum insulin approximately 215 pmol/L). Basally Ra, Rd, glucose recycling, and oxidation were similar in both groups. During hyperinsulinemia, insulin stimulated plasma Rd approximately 35% less (17.6 +/- 1.3 vs. 26.8 +/- 3.6 mumol/kg.min, P less than 0.01, patients vs. normal subjects), and inhibited endogenous Ra less in the patients (from 13.3 +/- 0.8 to 5.3 +/- 0.8 mumol/kg.min) than in the normal subjects (from 12.8 +/- 1.0 to 2.1 +/- 1.2 mumol/kg.min, P less than 0.01). The decrease in whole body Rd was largely explained by a approximately 75% reduction in muscle Rd (5.6 +/- 1.5 vs. 20.8 +/- 3.3 mumol/kg muscle.min, P less than 0.01, patients vs. normal subjects). The defect in Rd was confined to nonoxidative (4.8 +/- 1.1 vs. 11.0 +/- 3.0 mumol/kg.min, P less than 0.01, patients vs. normal subjects) but not to oxidative glucose metabolism. The percentage of plasma lactate derived from plasma glucose during hyperinsulinemia averaged 63 +/- 6% in the patients and 79 +/- 5% in the normal subjects, indicating that glycogenolysis did not excessively dilute glycolytic carbons in the patients. We conclude that during natural infections in humans, abnormal glucose metabolism is confined to the insulin-stimulated state and involves a marked defect in muscle glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis, as well as a less marked hepatic defect.

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