HIGH GLUCOSE-UPTAKE BY ADIPOCYTES IN A TYPE-1 DIABETIC PATIENT WITH APARTIAL HONEYMOON PERIOD

Hypoglycaemic episodes and low insulin requirements are frequently see n in the early phase of treatment of Type 1 diabetes mellitus but the mechanism is not clear. We present a diabetic patient with recurrent h ypoglycaemia in the early phase of insulin treatment. A very high gluc ose transport in adipocytes (basal: 176 and insulin stimulated glucose transport 10(-7) mol l(-1): 335 fl cell(-1) s(-1)) was found when com pared with reference laboratory diabetic patients (basal: 59 +/- 10 an d insulin 10(-7) mol l(-1): 106 +/- 7 fl cell(-1) s(-1), mean +/- SE) and with reference laboratory of non-diabetic subjects (basal: 106 +/- 6 and insulin 10(-7) mol l(-1): 188 +/- 15 fl cell(-1) s(-1)). insuli n binding to adipocytes was in the normal range. The patient was studi ed again 1 year later when the partial clinical remission had disappea red, and the glucose transport in adipocytes had decreased. In conclus ion, an increase in glucose uptake by peripheral tissues may be among the mechanisms of the partial 'honeymoon' period of diabetic patients. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.