Abstract
The oral glucose tolerance test in obese children is characterized by an increased insulin release. We could confirm this pattern in 16 obese (> 2 SD) children (10 girls and 6 boys). The basal fasting insulin level was also increased in obese children compared to 9 controls (23.6 vs 8.6 μU/ml). Previously obese children (n=8) had a mean fasting insulin level of 12.6 μU/ml and a moderately increased insulin response to glucose. Nine children with obesity had a glucose load before and after at least one week of phenantoin treatment which is reported to decrease the insulin response to oral glucose. The fasting insulin level was decreased by phenantoin (28.8 vs 16.1 μU/ml) and the high insulin response to oral glucose was reduced. Phenantoin also increased the plasma levels of free fatty acids and keton bodies. However, there was a marked difference in the responses to phenantoin between individuals with no measurable effect in some children. Phenantoin might be used in the treatment of obesity.
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Bolme, P., Persson, B. Glucose tolerance and phenantoin treatment in obese children. Pediatr Res 12, 1101 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197811000-00120
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197811000-00120