[Function of the pancreatic insular apparatus in growth retardation]

Function of the insular apparatus of the pancreas was studied in 12 healthy children and in 86 patients with growth retardation. The content of immunoreactive insulin (IRI) in the blood serum was examined with the aid of sets for radioimmunological determination on fasting stomach and in dynamics during the standard glucose-tolerance test. Investigations carried out showed the changes in insulin secretion in the patients with growth retardation to be in different direction; these changes were independent of the form of nanism. Normal IRI curves were revealed in 36.1%, and pathological ones--in 63.9% of the patients with growth retardation. Four types were distinguished among the pathological curves; they were hyposecretory (10.5%), torpid (15.1%), hypersecretory (30.2%), paradoxic (8.1%). The established disturbances in the function of the insular apparatus of the pancreas could serve as one of the pathogenetic moments causing or aggravating the growth retardation.