Effects of hexose infusion with insulin and of additional epinephrtine injection on the levels of serum potassium and blood glucose in dogs.

The hypokalemic response was roughly proportional to the dose of insulin. The hypokalemia due to adding insulin to galactose or fructose loading was slightly greater than that with insulin and glucose or mannose loading, suggesting a hexose stereospecificity of the response. When epinephrine (13.6 nmol/kg, i.v.) was given after one of the hexoses plus insulin, the hyperkalemia with glucose and galactose was 2.5-3 mEq/l, about twice that due to fructose or mannose. The hyperglycemia was about 2 mmol/l for glucose, 1 mmol/l for galactose, mannose, fructose, and ouabain with glucose, and 0.25 mmol/l for phloridzin with glucose. Addition of epinephrine, isoproterenol, and cAMP caused a significant depression of Na+,K+-ATPase activity in rat liver (P < 0.01) but the addition of insulin did not. These results show that there was a relation between the levels of blood glucose and serum potassium after an insulin-containing hexose infusion and that membrane permeability was stereospecific.