Glucose Insulin Potassium Infusion Improves Systolic Function in Patients with Chronic Ischemic Cardiomyopathy

OBJECTIVE: We assessed the effects of glucose-insulin-potassium (GIK) by echocardiography in stable patients with ischemic dysfunction. METHODS: Twelve male patients with stable coronary disease (SCD) and ejection fraction (EF) <45% were studied for systolic function. GIK (glucose 30%, 300 insulin units and KCl 6 g/l) was infused at 1 ml/kg per h over 20 min. Hemodynamic and echocardiographic measurements were recorded at rest (T(0)), at the end (20 min) of GIK infusion (T+20), 20 and 40 min after the end of the infusion (T+40 and T+60). RESULTS: At T+20, a significant decrease in WMSI (wall motion score index) was observed compared with T(0) (2.16+/-0.14 vs. 2.30+/-0.16: P<0.05). An increase in EF was reported at T+40 and T+60 compared with T(0) (44.1+/-7.8% and 53.3+/-11.6% vs. 35.6+/-4.5%, respectively: P<0.01). A decrease in WMSI was observed at T+40 and T+60 compared with rest (2.02+/-0.17 and 1.93+/-0.11 vs. 2.30+/-0.16, respectively: P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Our present work suggests that GIK infusion improves systolic function in patients with SCD and ejection fraction <45%. Further studies are needed to determine if short-term GIK infusion could be useful for therapeutic or diagnostic strategies in these patients.