Juvenile Diabetes Mellitus, a Deficiency in Insulin

The plasma insulin, growth hormone, nonesterified fatty acids and glucose responses to the oral ingestion of glucose, the intravenous administration of tolbutamide and the infusion of arginine were studied in fourteen newly diagnosed juvenile diabetic children. Fasting plasma insulin levels did not differ significantly between diabetic and normal children, although the mean fasting blood glucose level of the diabetic children was threefold greater than that of the normal subjects No detectable plasma insulin response was observed in the diabetic subjects during all three tests. Fasting plasma growth hormone levels and plasma growth hormone responses were similar in both normal and diabetic children. The fasting free fatty acid level of the diabetic children was significantly higher than in normal children, but fell during all three tests. With use of a variety of sensitive procedures, no antibodies to human insulin were demonstrable in the sera of newly diagnosed juvenile diabetics.