Effect of Diet on Glucose Tolerance of Normal and Hypophysectomized Dogs

Abstract

Kageura 1 reported that dogs utilized glucose at a slower rate than normal following a high fat-low carbohydrate diet. Certain of the animals showed diabetic glucose-tolerance curves. The bearing of the results on problems of therapy in diabetes mellitus seemed of sufficient import to warrant repetition of the experiments.

Accordingly 9 normal dogs were fed for 7 to 14 days on a diet consisting of 100 gm. of fat and 350 gm. raw lean meat daily. Six of the animals were then given 0.85 gm. of glucose per os and 3 of them 1.5 gm. of glucose intravenously per kilo of body weight and their glucose tolerance determined by blood analyses made according to the method of Shaffer and Somogyi 2 at the intervals indicated in the table. The same animals were then given a low fat diet consisting of 100 gm. cane sugar, one liter skimmed milk and 300 gm. whole wheat bread daily for 14 days. Then their glucose tolerance was again determined.

The results are shown in Table I. They demonstrate that American dogs do not exhibit any consistent difference in their glucose tolerance after a high fat-low carbohydrate diet as contrasted with a low fat-high carbohydrate diet. In no instance in this small series was there any decrease in glucose tolerance on a high carbohydrate diet. In some of the animals there was a definite improvement. The suggestion that the difference in response of Japanese and American dogs may be related to a normal difference in their diets naturally presents itself. Japanese dogs are fed on a relatively high carbohydrate diet.

The effect on glucose tolerance of a high fat-low carbohydrate and a low fat-high carbohydrate diet was determined in 8 hypophysectomized animals within 2 months following the operation in the same manner as outlined above for normal dogs. Four of these animals had been previously studied as normal dogs.