The Production of a Lowered Carbohydrate Tolerance in Dogs

Abstract

TORONTOIn a previous communication,1 it was shown that glucose injected into the blood stream of infants with diarrhea, infection or acute intestinal intoxication was not removed with the normal rapidity, and that this derangement of the carbohydrate metabolism was not primarily associated with a deficient production of insulin. In the present study, an attempt was made to determine what factors were responsible for this derangement.The animals used were puppies. In the preliminary experiments it had been found that conditions which produced no change in adult animals produced profound changes in young animals. As the object of the experiment was to produce conditions similar to those encountered in infants if possible, the importance of the age of the animals used is at once apparent. The blood sugar concentration in normal puppies was determined after the intravenous administration of 10 cc. per pound of body weight of a 10 per cent solution of glucose. The results obtained are given in table 1. The procedure used in the determination of the blood sugar concentration is based on the Shaffer-Hartmann method, and has been described elsewhere.2 In no instance was food given to the puppies during the eighteen hours previous to the glucose tolerance tests. The effect on the glucose tolerance values produced by the previ¬ ous subcutaneous administration of a bacterial toxin (diphtheria toxin) and a chemical toxin (histamine) is given in table 2. The effect pro¬ duced by dehydration is given in table 3 ; while in table 4 are the results obtained in an attempt to produce diarrhea by the oral administration of magnesium sulphate, powdered jalap and castor oil. The effect of an elevation of temperature without any evidences of a toxemia on the glucose tolerance values is given in table 5. The summary of the averages of the values recorded in tables 1 to 4 are given in table 6. For com¬ parison, the average values obtained with infants 1 are included in this table.