Effect of somatostatin (SRIF) on plasma glucose and insulin response to glucagon in liver cirrhosis

The present study was performed in order to evaluate the plasma glucose pattern in cirrhotic patients who, in the course of a continuous somatostatin infusion (500 microgram/h), were given pulses of glucagon (1 mg i.v.). In normal as well as in cirrhotic subjects somatostatin infusion provoked a marked reduction of the IRI plasma level and this was uninfluenced by subsequent glucagon administration. The rise in plasma glucose level in response to i.v. glucagon administration during somatostatin infusion was less marked in cirrhotics compared to normal subjects. This can be attributed to a variety of factors such as reduced number of liver cells or quantitative or qualitative changes of the liver cell glucagon receptors. Glucagon does not seem to contribute to the pathogenesis of carbohydrate intolerance in liver cirrhosis.