Abstract
The glucoregulatory role of insulin for adult subjects is undisputed. However, less is known about its secretion and actions in the neonatal period, either in healthy subjects, or in those at risk of disordered blood glucose homeostasis.
We studied the relationships between blood glucose and plasma insulin concentrations in 52 healthy children, 67 appropriate birthweight for gestational age (AGA) term infants, 39 AGA preterm infants, and 59 infants who were hypoglycaemic or hyperglycaemic. In addition, 26 babies from the latter group underwent glucose turnover studies.
In children and AGA infants, plasma insulin concentration was positively related to blood glucose concentration (Spearman rho, P: Children, 0.58, <0.001; AGA term, 0.31 <0.01; AGA preterm, 0.44, <0.01). However, at equivalent glucose concentrations, there was greater variation in insulin concentration and the median insulin concentration was higher in AGA infants than for children. In hypoglycaemic and hyperglycaemic infants, there was no relationship between blood glucose and plasma insulin levels, and, in turn, glucose production rates were not related to plasma insulin levels.
These data suggest that, compared to older subjects, neonatal pancreatic insulin secretion is less closely linked to circulating blood glucose concentrations, and that insulin does not control glucose production rates in infants with disorders of blood glucose homeostasis.
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Hawdon, J., Aynsley-Green, A. & Ward Platt, M. INSULIN IS NOT THE MAJOR GLUCOREGULATORY HORMONE IN THE NEONATAL PERIOD. Pediatr Res 32, 619 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199211000-00085
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199211000-00085