Human insulin induces a higher glucagon response to induced hypoglycemia in short normal children, compared to porcine insulin

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Glucagon in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Several studies were then undertaken in both diabetic and healthy adults to investigate counterregulatory hormone responses to both porcine and human insulin-induced hypoglycemia as a possible underlying cause for this different hypoglycemia awareness.

Why It Was Studied

However, no such studies have ever been performed in healthy children.

The researchers undertook a double-blinded study of counterregulatory hormone responses to both porcine and human insulin-induced hypoglycemia in 17 short normal children randomly assigned to two groups, one receiving human and the other porcine insulin.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 17 children were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are children and teenagers, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized and double-blind study.

Because people in this Glucagon study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Neither the children nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Glucagon, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Blood Glucose, Catecholamines, Glucagon, Growth Disorders, Growth Hormone, Hydrocortisone and Hypoglycemia.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and double-blind study of Glucagon in 17 children.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 1999 (Journal of pediatric endocrinology & metabolism : JPEM), a journal based in Germany.

More context: the Glucagon compound page, all human trials.