Selective Impairment of Glucose Storage in Human Sepsis

Background: Glucose utilization in sepsis is impaired but the mechanisms are unclear. This study examined the effect of sepsis on total glucose utilization, oxidation and storage, and the energetic costs of these metabolic processes.

Methods: Glucose infusion rate (GIR), glucose oxidation rate (GOR), non-oxidative disposal rate and the energetic cost of glucose storage were studied in 24 patients with abdominal sepsis and in 26 healthy controls, using indirect calorimetry and the euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp with insulin infusion rates of 40 and 240 mU m-2 min-1.

Results: Basal GOR was significantly lower in septic patients than in controls (1.5 versus 2.3 mg per kg fat-free mass (FFM) per min, P < 0.001). Septic patients had a significantly lower GIR at 40 mU m-2 min-1 (4.2 versus 9.1 mg per kg FFM per min) and at 240 mU m-2 min-1 (7.5 versus 11.8 mg per kg FFM per min), relative to controls (P < 0.001). GOR was similar in septic and control subjects at both rates of insulin infusion whereas non-oxidative disposal was significantly lower in septic patients (P < 0.001) and accounted entirely for the reduction in GIR. The energetic cost of glucose disposal was unaffected by sepsis.

Conclusion: Sepsis is associated with selective impairment of glucose storage but the energetic cost of non-oxidative disposal is unaffected.