The Arteriovenous Difference in Blood Sugar Content

Since Claude Bernard 1 in 1877, Otto 2 in 1885 and Pavy 3 in 1894 showed that there is a difference in the sugar content of arterial and venous blood, greater during digestion, a number of workers have studied this aspect of sugar metabolism. There is general agreement that in the fasting state the arterial blood contains from 3 to 5 mg. per hundred cubic centimeters more sugar than the venous, and that after the administration of dextrose this difference is increased to between 20 and 80 mg. Lawrence 4 and Rabinowitch 5 found that in the patient with diabetes, the arteriovenous difference is very much reduced; in fact, in some cases the sugar in the venous blood is higher than in the arterial. Friedenson 6 gave a good historical review of the entire subject. It is obvious that the arteriovenous difference is due to the fact that the peripheral tissues, especially the muscles, either store