Glucose Mediated Glucose Disposal During Intravenous Glucose Tolerance Tests

In diabetic subjects who have no residual insulin secretion, the restoration of normoglycemia after oral or intravenous glucose administration occurs only via glucose-mediated stimulation of glucose disappearance. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of several mathematical models to account for glucose-mediated glucose disappearance (GMGD). Therfore, six C-peptide negative diabetic subjects underwent an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) under conditions of basal insulin levels. The considered mathematical models were identified from the data obtained during the IVGTTs. We found that the widely used minimal model of glucose kinetics failed to describe the observed GMGD. In contrast, a proposed two-compartment model was able to account for the measured glucose dynamics throughout the IVGTT.