All issues > Volume 15(3); 1972

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1972;15(3):215-222. Published online March 31, 1972.

Glucose Tolerance test in Tuberculous Meningitis

Don Hee Ahn¹

¹Department of pediatrics, College of medicine, Seoul National University

Abstract

A number of investigators have devoted considerable efforts to evaluate the problem whether the- brain participates in the blood glucose regulation, since Bernard reported glucosuria after puncture of the fourth ventricle in a rabbit in 1849. Many problems still remain unsolved, but most agree that we cannot exclude central nervous system?, mechanism on blood glucose metabolism. Glucose tolerance test were performed on eleven tuberculous meningitis patients with regard to the- various stages of the disease. The results were as follows. 1. Five cases showed low fasting blood sugar levels with flat glucose tolerance curve patterns on admission which gradually returned to normal pattern with concommitant rise of sugar levels after one week of treatment. 2. Two cases showed the same curve patterns either on admission or after treatment but the latter showed somewhat higher levels. 3. Four cases showed irregular glucose tolerance curve patterns with dippings here and there on admission, but gradually returned to normal patterns one week after treatment. 4. Two cases showed mild diabetic curve patterns which might be due to steroid effect. 5. In one case which was complicated by measles on the third week after admission, glucose tolerance test showed abnormality at the time but returned to normal as the disease improved. In short, glucose tolerance test curves changed along with the clinical courses in tuberculous meningitis suggesting that central nervous system may participate in the regulation of blood glucose.

Keywords :