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Horm Metab Res 1977; 9(6): 510-512
DOI: 10.1055/s-0028-1093512
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© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Hyperinsulinemic Hypoglycemia: Effect of Epinephrine Suppression

P. C. Kansal , B. R. Boshell , J.  Buse1 , M. S. Bandisode , R. F. Roddam , Maria G. Buse1
  • Department of Medicine, University of Alabama in Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
  • 1Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A.
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Publication History

Publication Date:
23 December 2008 (online)

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Abstract

The inhibitory effect of epinephrine on basal and tolbutamide-stimulated insulin release was studied in 5 patients with hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia. Epinephrine inhibited both basal and tolbutamide-induced insulin release in patients with β-cell adenoma and hyperplasia, but failed to inhibit insulin release in a patient with β-cell carcinoma. The inhibition of basal insulin with epinephrine was maximum in patients with β-cell hyperplasia. This differential inhibitory effect of epinephrine on insulin release may prove to be a useful screening test in the preoperative diagnosis of the nature of the lesion producing hyperinsulinemia.

Key words

Tolbutamide - Epinephrine - Insulin Response

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