Abstract
It is well known that fructose and galactose are easily converted to glucose in the body. Various foods contain fructose and galactose. Therefore, it may be important, from the nutritional standpoint, to evaluate the ability of diabetics to utilize fructose and galactose. Present study dealt with the utilization of fructose and galactose in patients with diabetes mellitus and relation between the utilization of these sugars and the types of disease, age and complication of patients. The results were as follows.
(1) Diabetics showed enhanced interconversion from fructose to glucose and disturbance in the utilization of galactose.
(2) Disturbance of galactose utilization was more marked in patients with severe diabetes mellitus.
(3) The conversion of fructose to glucose was more marked in thin patients and younger patients.
(4) Disturbance of glactose utilization was more marked in older patients and in those with complications.
(5) The elevation of blood pyruvate level following the administration of fructose or galactose was found to be almost the same in diabetics as in normals. However, the rise in blood pyruvate level persisted longer in diabetics than in normal adults.
