Influence of physiologic hyperglucagonemia on urinary glucose, nitrogen, and electrolyte excretion in diabetes

To evaluate the effect of physiologic hyperglucagonemia on nitrogen and glucose metabolism and on urinary electrolyte excretion, pancreatic glucagon was administered as a continuous 3-day infusion to three adult-onset non-insulin-dependent diabetics and two insulin-treated juvenile diabetics while on a constant dietary intake. The glucagon infusion resulted in increases in plasma glucagon which were 4-6 fold greater than control values. Despite prolonged hyperglucagonemia, urinary glucose excretion was unchanged. Similarly, urinary urea nitrogen and total nitrogen excretion were not altered by glucagon administration. Urinary sodium tended to rise, albeit not significantly (p less than .01), on the first infusion day, but later declined to control values despite increasing plasma glucagon concentrations. Urinary chloride, potassium, calcium, phosphorus excretion remained unchanged. We conclude that continuous physiologic increments in plasma glucagon do not enhance glycosuria or increase protein catabolism and ureagenesis in diabetes when insulin is available. The augmented protein catabolism and glucogenesis that accompany diabetic ketoacidosis cannot be explained primarily on the basis of hyperglucagonemia.