Serum glucose and insulin levels in normotensive (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rats during and after the cessation of continuous (10 day) clonidine infusion.

Abstract

The concentrations of glucose were elevated whereas those of insulin were decreased in the sera of normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rats on day 10 of a continuous subcutaneous infusion of clonidine (10 micrograms kg-1 h-1 for 10 days). Fifteen to 18 h after cessation of infusion, the glucose levels of both strains had fallen to below those of the respective controls whereas the insulin levels remained suppressed. As such the hypoglycaemia may be related to the general increase in metabolic requirements associated with the post-infusion 'withdrawal syndrome'.