Insulin response to glucose challenge after transient hepatic dearterialization for rat liver malignancy

In the palliative treatment of liver malignancy, hepatic dearterialization is being increasingly used. To study the metabolic consequences of this treatment, the present investigation was conducted to elucidate the insulin, glucose, and lactate responses to an intravenous glucose challenge after transient hepatic dearterialization in a liver tumor model in inbred Wistar-Furth rats. We found that nonfasted rats bearing dearterialized liver tumors showed slightly higher basal plasma glucose levels and an exaggerated elevation of plasma glucose during the glucose infusion compared to the controls. Further, they had a depressed insulin response to the glucose challenge. Their glycogen stores were at the same time depleted, in both the liver and the tumor tissues, and the plasma lactate production during the glucose infusion was elevated after dearterialization. We conclude that immediately after hepatic dearterialization in rats with liver malignancies, glucose intolerance and impaired glucose-induced insulin secretion exist.