The role of ranitidine infusion on glucose, insulin and C-peptide serum levels induced by oral glucose tolerance test in healthy subjects.

In 9 healthy subjects we evaluated the effect of a constant ranitidine infusion (100 mg) on glucose (mg/dl), insulin (microU/ml) and C-peptide (ng/ml) serum levels promoted by oral glucose tolerance test (75 g). Ranitidine significantly increased the area under concentration/time curves for glucose and insulin but not that of C-peptide. Our data indicate that ranitidine does not affect pancreatic insulin release nor peripheral glucose utilization and are consistent with the hypothesis that ranitidine influences the hepatic clearance of glucose and insulin both of which undergo high first-pass liver extraction.