[The catabolism of infused maltose in man]

The use of intravenously administered maltose was tested in 9 healthy human subjects and 3 insulin-dependent diabetic patients. The concentration of the blood sugar has not been influenced by the administered maltose. The concentration of maltose in the blood increases up to 170 mg/100 ml blood depending on the rate of the maltose infusion. The excretion of maltose in the urinis correlated with the applied dosis and with the blood maltose concentration. Under our experimental conditions 20 to 30% of the administered maltose have been excreted and 7.5 to 23.4% have been oxidized within 8 hours. The highest rate of degradation was about 40 mg maltose/min/human subject and is reached 2 hours later than the peak concentration of maltose in the blood. The metabolism of maltose is reduced in insulin-dependent diabetic patients. In these patients only 3% of the applied maltose have been oxidized and 51% excreted in the urin within 8 hours. Therefore, this disaccharide cannot be recommended as carbohydrate source of parenteral nutrition in insulin-dependent diabetic patients. The balance of intravenously administered maltose is not satisfactory in healthy adult humans, too. Infusion of maltose solutions have no real advantages over the infusions of oligosaccharide solutions.