Clinical investigation on abnormal glucose tolerance in liver cirrhosis.

The changes of blood glucose, serum insulin, serum free fatty acid and its fatty acid composition following oral glucose load were observed in twenty-nine cirrhotic patients. The insulin secretory response was significantly lower in the cirrhotic patients with overt diabetes than in those without overt diabetes. There were no definite relation between serum free fatty acid level or its composition and glucose intolerance. These results suggest that the diabetic state in most of the cirrhotic patients with overt diabetes is due to essential diabetes and that serum free fatty acid livel and its composition are not important factors contributory to the glucose intolerance in liver cirrhosis.