Blood glucose control and lipolysis in diabetes mellitus.

The relationship between the blood glucose level and the rate of lipolysis was investigated in 19 maturity onset diabetics (MOD) and 9 juvenile onset diabetics (JOD). Subcutaneous adipose tissue was incubated with and without isoprenaline or noradrenaline. Before antidiabetic treatment the blood glucose concentration was positively correlated with basal and catecholamine-induced rates of lipolysis in MOD (R = 0.41--0.60) and in JOD (r = 0.51--0.71). The reduction in blood glucose concentration during antidiabetic treatment was positively correlated with the reduction in the rate of lipolysis in MOD (r = 0.50--0.64) and in JOD (r = 0.75--0.90). Fat cell size and blood glucose level were not correlated either in untreated or treated diabetics. In diabetes mellitus, blood glucose homeostasis and rate of lipolysis in adipose tissue seem to be associated. The relationship is most apparent in JOD.