Computer assisted analysis of insulin response to glucose stimulus.

Concomitant measurements of plasma insulin levels were performed on all samples of blood obtained from 1,408 patients undergoing a diagnostic oral glucose tolerance test. These patients had no prior diagnosis of diabetes but qualified for the study because of either suspicious history, family history, or signs and symptoms. Graphic display of the findings, with insulin plotted as percent increase over basal level and glucose as milligrams per 1 0 0 ml, resulted in recognizably dis­ tinct patterns of response in both nondiabetic and diabetic patients. Computer assisted analysis of these, along with correlation of the factor of obesity, con­ firmed the recognizably separate patterns. The concept of the initial lesion of insulin deficiency of diabetes as one of rate rather than magnitude tends to be confirmed. It was concluded that the routine and simultaneous performance of plasma insulin levels during oral glucose tolerance tests was of value in the diagnosis of various stages of diabetes and in selection of the proper treatment regime.