Abstract: | Sensitivity of muscle tissue to insulin was studied by measuring the intensity of its action on incorporation of labeled glucose into glycogen by the isolated diaphragm of 20 control rats and 27 rats with alloxan diabetes. If the duration of diabetes was 5–8 days the sensitivity of the muscle tissue to insulin was unchanged. After alloxan diabetes lasting 22–24 days, a significant decrease was found in the sensitivity of the muscle tissue to insulin. With an increase in the duration of decompensated alloxan diabetes to 5–8 months, a further decrease in incorporation of labeled glucose into glycogen by the diaphragm was observed. The results show that the sensitivity of muscle tissue to insulin is reduced by metabolic disturbances characteristic of diabetes mellitus.Laboratory of Physiology and Pathology of the Human Endocrine System. I. P. Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR V. G. Baranov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 88, No. 10, pp. 412–414, October, 1979. |