[Hyperglycemia and acute illness]

Hyperglycemia due to acute illness is frequently observed in non-diabetic patients. Considered as a physiological response to inflammation, it has now been shown to be an independent factor of morbid-mortality in critically ill patients. Hyperglycemia reduces the immune system response to aggression by decreasing the efficacy of some complement factors and polynuclear cells chemotactism and phagocytosis and by increasing the inflammatory response (cytokines, NF-kB and CRP). Glycemia near normalization using intensive insulin therapy significantly improves mortality and morbidity in several critical illnesses such as cardiac or infectious diseases. This improvement is probably due to the neutralization of deleterious effects caused by hyperglycemia and to the specific actions of insulin on the inflammatory response. Except for ICU patients, precise management protocols of hyperglycemia due to acute illness remain to be proposed and evaluated in clinical practice.