[Carbohydrate infusion in internal diseases. A comparative study in metabolically healthy patients, patients with liver diseases and diabetic patients. I. Physiopathologic aspects in the parenteral administration of monosaccharides].

The biochemical basis of the metabolism of glucose and non-glucose-carbohydrates (fructose, sorbitol, xylitol) is presented. The potential draw backs of the parenteral application of large doses of these carbohydrates in internally ill patients, based on the results of experiments with isolated perfused livers or animals and case reports, are reviewed. These considerations form the basis for investigations in internally ill patients (liver cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus) and healthy controls in order to find out if low dose, long term, parenteral infusion of glucose or mixtures of glucose with non-glucose-carbohydrates are applicable to these patients without major side effects. The results of these investigations will be published in following papers.