title: Skinfold thickness, local subcutaneous blood flow and insulin absorption in diabetic patients.
abstract: The influence of skinfold thickness on the local subcutaneous blood flow (SBF) and absorption rate of subcutaneously injected and infused soluble insulin was investigated in insulin-dependent diabetic patients. The local 133Xenon washout technique was used for measuring SBF and the disappearance of 125I labelled insulin for measuring insulin absorption. A Harpenden skinfold caliper was used for measuring skinfold thickness. A large variation in skinfold thickness (range 6-40 mm, N = 50) was demonstrated. The SBF was curvilinear related to the skinfold thickness with decreasing SBF for increasing skinfold thickness (N = 50). A similar relationship was found between the SBF and the absorption rate of subcutaneously injected (N = 10) and infused (N = 7) insulin. The large variation in skinfold thickness and thus insulin absorption may partly explain the well-known large inter-individual variation in insulin absorption, and the different absorption rates from areas with different skinfold thickness should be taken into account when treating with insulin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hildebrandt
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000098:blood supply; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012885:Skinfold Thickness
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin