Abstract
The increasing evidence that potassium plays an essential rôle in carbohydrate metabolism, 1 , 2 as well as in nervous activity, 3 suggests the possibility that the decrease of this element in the blood plasma following administration of insulin 4 , 5 might be involved in the mechanism of insulin convulsions. The following is a brief report of experiments undertaken to explore this possibility.
The method used was to determine the level of K in the plasma immediately before and at various intervals after the administration of convulsive doses of insulin. Preparatory to their being subjected to the various experiments, dogs were kept on a standard diet for a fore period of several days, after which they were fasted for either 24 or 48 hours. Control blood specimens were obtained before each experiment was begun. Only those animals which had definite generalized insulin convulsions during preliminary tests were used for subsequent studies. The blood sugar, hemoglobin and plasma inorganic phosphorus were also determined. In a few instances changes in the serum calcium, lactic acid and sodium were likewise followed. The dosage of insulin varied somewhat from animal to animal, but in most of the experiments comparatively large doses (10 to 25 units per kg of body weight) were given because the results were found to be more regular with these than they were with smaller doses. The effect of insulin alone was determined 80 times in 43 dogs. In addition 8 experiments were carried out with continuous administration of K salts (chloride and citrate) in amounts sufficiently large to maintain the plasma K at normal levels while the blood sugar and inorganic phosphorus were reduced by the insulin. In other experiments phosphate, as well as K, was administered to prevent decrease in both of these inorganic ions during the period of hypoglycemia.
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