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Resistance to Insulin Convulsions in Fasted Mice

Veterans Administration Center, Los Angeles, California, 90073, and the UCLA Medical School Los Angeles, California, 90024

Abstract

The unexplained resistance of fasted subjects to insulin reactions prompted a comparison of the central nervous system convulsants strychnine and pentylenetetrazol with insulin—hypoglycemia. This was done to determine if fasting made the brain less susceptible to the effect of CNS irritants in general or only to glucopenia.

The dose of insulin necessary to produce convulsions in 50% of the mice was determined before and after 48–hr fasting and found to be 5 times greater in the fasted animals (1.91 vs 10.6 U/kg bw.) Fasting did not produce a significant change in the incidence of convulsions due to strychnine and pentylenetetrazol. Percent decreases of glucose from base line at the 30– and 60–min interval were nearly identical in fed and fasted mice although absolute nadirs in glucose concentrations were lower with fasting. The findings suggest that in fasting the brain adapts to utilization of non—glucose fuels and consequently acute severe glucopenia fails to precipitate the usual CNS manifestations. (Endocrinology 92: 1277, 1973)

Received April 7, 1972.

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