The effects of insulin of the new-born calf

Abstract

1. The normal variations in the concentrations of glucose, fructose and lactic acid in the blood of the calf which occur during the first few weeks after birth have been examined.2. The responses of calves of different ages to intravenous injections of insulin have been examined by recording both the incidence of convulsions and the changes in the concentration of glucose, fructose and lactic acid in the blood.3. New-born calves rarely convulsed during prolonged and severe hypoglycaemia and, if convulsions occurred, the onset was delayed by 6-8 hr. At 7 days of age convulsions usually followed the injection of insulin within 1(1/2)-2 hr.4. No relationship could be found between the duration of hypoglycaemia and the incidence of convulsions at different ages. Hypoglycaemia was most prolonged in new-born calves which rarely convulsed.5. Insulin hypoglycaemia during the first 24 hr after birth was associated with a rise in the concentration of lactate in the blood. Similar changes did not occur in calves at 7 days of age, in which the incidence of convulsions was much higher, or in weaned animals.6. After both splanchnic nerves had been cut, insulin always caused convulsions in 24-hr-old calves. There was no rise in the blood lactate concentration in these animals.7. Intravenous infusions of adrenaline but not noradrenaline in amounts similar to those known to be released from the adrenal medulla of the calf of this age prevented convulsions in 24-hr-old calves after section of the splanchnic nerves. These infusions had little effect on the blood glucose concentration but caused a similar rise in the lactic acid concentration to that found in normal animals at this age during hypoglycaemia.8. At 7 days of age convulsions could only be prevented during hypoglycaemia by infusing larger doses of adrenaline which significantly raised the blood glucose concentration. The increase in the blood lactate concentration was less than that in the new-born animals.9. The resistance to insulin hypoglycaemia which occurs immediately after birth is transient; it depends upon the release of adrenaline from the adrenal medulla and is associated with high concentrations of lactate in the blood during hypoglycaemia.