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Disturbances in blood sugar regulation in animals subjected to transection of the brain stem

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Summary and Conclusions

  1. 1.

    This report deals with the effect of brain stem transection on glucose tolerance over a period of several weeks postoperatively. Of 23 rats and 12 dogs subjected to this operation, all showed a reduction of glucose tolerance regardless of the level of transection, whether pontile, midbrain, or hypothalamic. In 8 rats and 1 dog in which the brain stem transection was subtotal, the glucose tolerance was similarly reduced. In 3 rats in which the brain stem was hemisected and in 1 rat and 2 dogs subjected to virtually complete decortication, the glucose tolerance remained unaltered.

  2. 2.

    In the animals with total or subtotal brain stem transection the alteration in tolerance was observed by the second postoperative day and persisted for 25 to 30 days after which the tolerance returned to the preoperative (normal) level. Thus, the disturbance was relatively transitory.

  3. 3.

    It is suggested that the brain stem normally exerts a homeostatic influence on the blood sugar, maintaining it at a physiological level, and that the altered glucose tolerance following brain stem transection is an expression of disruption of this influence.

Zusammenfassung

  1. 1.

    Dieser Bericht handelt von der Wirkung der Gehirnstammdurchschneidung auf die Glykosetoleranz während eines Zeitraumes von einigen postoperativen Wochen. Von 23 Ratten und 12 Hunden, an denen diese Operation vorgenommen worden war, zeigten alle eine Verminderung der Glykosetoleranz ohne Rücksicht auf die Stelle der Durchschneidung, ob diese pontin, mesencephal oder hypothalamisch angelegt wurde. Bei 8 Ratten und einem Hund, bei welchen die Gehirnstammdurchschneidung subtotal war, war die Glykosetoleranz in ähnlicher Weise vermindert. Bei 3 Ratten, bei welchen der Gehirnstamm in der Mitte durchschnitten wurde, und bei einer Ratte und 2 Hunden, an denen eine praktisch völlige Dekortikation vorgenommen wurde, blieb die Glykosetoleranz unverändert.

  2. 2.

    Bei den Tieren, an denen eine totale oder subtotale Gehirnstammdurchschneidung vorgenommen worden war, wurde die Änderung der Toleranz mit dem zweiten postoperativen Tag beobachtet, die 25 bis 30 Tage andauerte, wonach die Toleranz auf das (normale) präoperative Niveau zurückkehrte. Somit war die Störung verhältnismäßig vorübergehend.

  3. 3.

    Es wird angenommen, daß der Gehirnstamm normalerweise einen homöostatischen Einfluß auf den Blutzucker ausübt, indem er ihn auf einem physiologischen Niveau hält, und daß die veränderte Glykosetoleranz infolge Gehirnstammdurchschneidung der Ausdruck einer Unterbrechung dieses Einflusses ist.

Résumé

  1. 1.

    Dans ce rapport, il s'agit de l'effet de la transsection du tronc cérébral sur la tolérance glycémique pendant une période de quelques semaines postopératives. De 23 rats et 12 chiens soumis à cette opération, tous montraient une réduction de la tolérance glycémique sans égard au niveau de la transsection, soit-il pontin, mésencéphalique ou hypothalamique. Dans 8 rats et 1 chien dans lesquels la transsection du tronc cérébral avait été sous-totale la tolérance glycémique était similairement réduite. Dans 3 rats dans lesquels le tronc cérébral avait été hémisectionné et dans 1 rat et 2 chiens soumis à une décortication virtuellement complète la tolérance glycémique restait inaltérée.

  2. 2.

    Dans les animaux soumis à une transsection totale ou sous-totale, l'altération de la tolérance était observée le deuxième jour postopératif et persistait pendant 25 à 30 jours; de ce point la tolérance retournait au niveau préopératif (normal). Ainsi, le trouble était relativement transitoire.

  3. 3.

    Probablement le tronc cérébral exerce normalement une influence homéostatique sur le taux glycémique en le maintenant au niveau physiologique et que la tolérance glycémique par suite de la transsection du tronc cérébral est l'expression d'une suspension de cette influence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, Federal Security Agency, National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, Bethesda, Md

    Evelyn Anderson

  2. Neuropsychiatry Division, Army Medical Service Graduate School, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D. C.

    David M. Rioch

  3. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D. C.

    Webb Haymaker

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  1. Evelyn Anderson
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  2. David M. Rioch
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  3. Webb Haymaker
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Anderson, E., Rioch, D.M. & Haymaker, W. Disturbances in blood sugar regulation in animals subjected to transection of the brain stem. Acta Neurovegetativa 5, 132–164 (1952). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01232007

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