[Disorders of glucose tolerance in 2600 histologically confirmed acute and chronic liver patients (author's transl)].

Oral glucose tolerance tests (100 g glucose) and the intravenous tolbutamide test were carried out. The glucose tolerance was seen to be disordered even in acute infectious hepatitis, but returning to normal when cured. If chronic hepatitis develops, however, the proportion of manifest diabetes increases to 7.2% in chronic persistent hepatitis and to 16.3% in chronic progressive hepatitis, while 30% each have latent diabetes. The glucose tolerance is most impaired in fatty liver (stage III) and in active cirrhosis of the liver with portal hypertension, where more than half of all patients present manifest or latent diabetes. Conversely, glucose tolerance improves even in chronic hepatitis and in cirrhosis of the liver as the inflammatory activity subsides. The main cause for the development of "liver diabetes" is therefore likely to be the activity of the inflammatory process, the extent of portal hypertension, disorders of glucose regulation in the liver and the increased insulin inactivation in the cirrhotic liver.