Serum Insulin Measurements in Children with Idiopathic Spontaneous Hypoglycemia and in Normal Infants, Children and Adults

THE role of insulin in the pathogenesis of idiopathic spontaneous hypoglycemia is obscure. This paper reports levels of serum immunoreactive insulin and levels of serum insulin-like activity in patients with idiopathic spontaneous hypoglycemia as well as in normal infants, children and adults. Immunoreactive insulin refers to the portion of the circulating insulin that is able to combine with a specific anti-insulin antibody and is thus measurable by radioimmunoassay. It is generally agreed that whereas it may not account for the total circulating biologically active insulin, it is highly specific and reproducible. In contrast, insulin-like activity is measured by an in . . .