Insulin Response to Arginine in Normal Newborn Infants and Infants of Diabetic Mothers

The effect of maternal diabetes during pregnancy on insulin release of the newborn infant was examined employing arginine infusion as stimulus. At age two hours, eight normal newborn infants, six of gestationally diabetic mothers (IGDM) and four of insulin-dependent diabetic mothers (IDM) were infused with arginine hyd-rochloride 0.5 gm. per kilogram body weight for thirty minutes. Eight additional normal newborn infants were infused with isotonic saline. A small but definite rise in plasma IRI was observed in the normal newborns receiving arginine; however, the infants of gestationally diabetic mothers responded with an enhanced blood glucose and plasma insulin rise compared with the normal newborns. It seemed that intermittent or sustained hyperglycemia in utero may have potentiated the neonatal insulin response to arginine.