Glucose Uptake by Isolated Normal and Diabetic Rat Lenses

Abstract

The uptake of glucose by isolated lenses from normal and diabetic rats has been measured and found to average 1.1 and 0.5 mg of glucose/gm of lens/hr., respectively. The uptake is not affected by fasting the rats or by the addition of insulin to the incubation medium. The injection of insulin 2 hours before killing increases the uptake of normal lenses to 1.4 mg of glucose/gm of lens/hr. The same result is obtained if the blood sugar level of the insulin injected animal is maintained by intraperitoneal administration of glucose.