[Intravenous and oral glucose: production of insulin and growth hormone in the newborn infant].

Insulin production in response to intravenous and high and low oral glucose administration was investigated in 15 healthy fasting newborns. Results show that in spite of the fact that the highest blood glucose was obtained by the intravenous load, the highest insulin levels corresponded to the high oral glucose. The lowest blood glucose levels were found in the cases who received the low oral doses. The amounts of circulating insulin in this group were not significantly different from those in the group with I.V. glucose. In two of the groups where growth hormone was measured, the known paradoxixal increase in response to administered glucose was observed.