Responses of Catecholamines and Other Counterregulatory Hormones to Insulin-Induced Hypoglycemia in Totally Pancreatectomized Patients*

Responses of glucagon, catecholamines, and other counterregulatory hormones to insulin-induced hypoglycemia were evaluated in five totally pancreatectomized patients and six normal subjects. In pancreatectomized patients, plasma glucagon, probably of gastric origin, did not change significantly during hypoglycemia. The responses of epinephrine and norepinephrine were delayed but adequate compared with those in normal subjects. The responses of cortisol and GH were almost as great as those in normal subjects. However, plasma glucose levels did not recover from hypoglycemia normally in these patients. These results suggest that glucagon responses are essential to recover from hypoglycemia and that neither epinephrine nor norepinephrine plays a crucial role in the recovery from acute insulin-induced hypoglycemia in totally pancreatectomized patients.