Morphin hyperglycemia as a test for pancreatic deficiency

Abstract

We found that the subcutaneous injection of one or two milligrams of morphin sulphate per kilo in dogs whose pancreatic substance had been strongly reduced by coagulation in situ 1 or by partial resection, caused a much greater rise in the blood-sugar level than the same dose in normal controls.

The following table gives the results of some of our experiments. It will be seen that the animals in which the pancreatic tissue had been reduced (AK₅, 32, 37, and BD₃) showed an increase in the blood-sugar three to four times greater than that obtained in the controls after the same dose of morphin.

As these animals with deficient pancreatic tissue may legitimately be considered in a prediabetic state, the morphin hyperglycemia observed in them may be of importance clinically in detecting individuals with an impaired carbohydrate metabolism. That this impairment need not be great and yet yield a strong hyperglycemia to a small dose of morphin is indicated by the fact that our dogs whose pancreatic tissue had been largely coagulated nevertheless showed a surprisingly good tolerance for sugar. In six tests where 10 grams of dextrose per kilo were fed, and in two where 4 to 5 grams of dextrose per kilo were injected subcutaneously, the amount excreted was nothing in two tests; less than 0.5 gram per kilo in three; less than one gram per kilo in two tests; and 1.5 grams per kilo in one test.

Whether the test will yield the same results in the human subject which we have obtained in dogs, can only be determined by trial, and such a trial we believe fully warranted by our findings. The procedure can easily be carried out with less than one cubic centimeter of blood if the Epstein method, for example, is used for determining the blood-sugar.