[State of the insular apparatus in experimental thyrotoxicosis]

The oral intravenous glucose tolerance tests revealed an increase in the rate of glucose utilization in rabbits fed high thyroidine doses. Hypoglycemia and hypoinsulinemia on fasting stomach, as well as a reduction of insulin reaction to intravenous glucose load were seen in such animals. A fall of insulin secretion in thyrotoxicosis is considered to be a compensatory reaction permitting glucose output from the liver to meet increased tissue demands in the oxidative substrates.