title: Mechanism of action of phenethylbiguanide (phenformin) in man. III. interrelationship between ethanol and phenethylibiguanide (PBG) in normal and diabetic subjects.
abstract: A standard 4-hr ethanol infusion (236 mg/min) after a 3-day fast with and without phenformin (25 mg q.i.d.), with blood drawn every hour for 8 hr, was performed on five normal subjects, eight obese nondiabetics, seven obese chemical diabetics, and four nonobese diabetics. Control infusion induced in all subjects a decline in blood sugar levels during and/or after the alcohol challenge, with a parallel decrease in basal plasma insulin. Hypoglycemia and the decrease in insulin secretion were associated with increased plasma free fatty acid concentration. Addition of phenethylbiguanide (PBG) to the preparatory 3-day fast resulted in a greater drop in the blood glucose levels of the normal control subjects, obese and nonobese diabetics; in the obese nondiabetics, however, significantly lower degree of blood glucose decrease than control was elicited. Furthermore, obese nondiabetics altered their blood glucose-insulin interaction with apparent increased responsivess of the B cells of PBG. The results suggest that effects of phenformin on blood glucose levels are more dependent on the metabolic state of the patient than on a property of the drug itself.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000378:metabolism*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism; D010629:Phenformin / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; D007328:Insulin; D000431:Ethanol; D010629:Phenformin