Insulin Sensitivity in the Hereditary Hypopituitary Dwarf Mouse. ∗

Abstract

Summary

Under the experimental conditions employed in these studies, findings may be summarized as follows: a) The insulinhypersensitive hereditary hypopituitary dwarf mouse can tolerate only 3% of the dose of insulin that produces comparable symptoms in normal mice (2 units of insulin/kg of mouse). Higher dosages cause severe hypoglycemia followed by death. b) ACTH, adrenocortical extract (ACE), and cortisone act as anti-insulin agents as shown by their ability to increase blood-glucose levels and to reduce hypoglycemic convulsions. Desoxycorticosterone acetate and testosterone propionate exhibit no anti-insulin action. c) Factors that may be responsible for the hypersensitivity to insulin are discussed.