Insulin resistance in diabetic ketoacidosis

The effect of "low-dose" (6--10 U/h) insulin treatment on the rate of decline of plasma glucose concentration was determined in 15 diabetic subjects admitted in ketoacidosis (plasma glucose = 948 79 mg/dl) and in six normal volunteers rendered hyperglycemic by a combined infusion of somatostatin and glucose (plasma glucose = 653 28 mg/dl). The fractional glucose turnover and the half-time of the fall in plasma glucose during insulin treatment were both 10-fold reduced (P less than 0.001) in the diabetics as compared with the controls. In the ketoacidotic subjects, the mean glucose clearance during insulin treatment was only 8% of that in the controls (P less than 0.001). In the normal subjects, tissue glucose clearance during insulin treatment of the hyperglycemia (5.8 0.7 ml/min . kg) was similar to that measured in the same subjects using a standard technique to quantitate insulin sensitivity (euglycemic insulin clamp). In the ketoacidotic patients, a history of prior insulin therapy, but not the degree of hyperglycemia at the time of admission, was associated with a more rapid rate of decline of plasma glucose in response to insulin treatment. We conclude that marked insulin resistance is present in virtually all diabetics in ketoacidosis.