Plasma insulin and glucose levels after renal transplantation.

Plasma insulin and glucose levels were measured before and for twenty-four hours after operation in 13 patients who had undergone renal transplantation, 4 who had undergone bilateral nephrectomy, and 5 who had undergone donor nephrectomy. Postoperative hyperglycemia was noted in all patients, but the hyperglycemia was much greater after renal transplantation. Peripheral insulin antagonism rather than decreased insulin secretion appeared to account for the hyperglycemia. The peripheral insulin antagonism was largely due to surgical stress, but intravenous immunosuppressive medications contributed to the exaggerated hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and insulin antagonism observed in the transplant patient.