Glucose Utilization and Lactate Production by Leucocytes of Patients with Diabetes Mellitus.

Summary Glucose utilization and lactate production have been measured in suspensions of leucocytes in plasma from normal human subjects and from patients with diabetes mellitus. The rate of glucose utilization was significantly lower in leucocytes from severe diabetics than in leucocytes from normal human subjects. Lactate production did not differ significantly between normal and diabetic subjects. In more than three-fourths of the experiments on diabetics and about one-half the experiments on normal subjects, glucose utilization by leucocytes was increased by insulin in vitro.Lactate production was not increased when insulin was added in vitro.