Coefficients of normal blood glucose regulation

¹ Departments of Veterinary Physiology, Veterinary Anatomy, and Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering and Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

A previously formulated glucose-insulin feed-back theory was simplified with appropriate assumptions for the purpose of determining which physiological sensitivity coefficients dominate the mathematical characteristics of the normal insulin and glucose tolerance curves. It was found from experimental data that these physiological coefficients approximate the well-known critical damping criteria of servomechanism theory. Correlations between theoretical and experimental results were made with some particular solutions of the necessary differential equations, obtained with the aid of an electronic analogue computer. Using a distribution volume of 17.5 liters for the 70-kg adult in three different methods of approach, it was found that the average coefficients of the insulin and glucose responses of the liver, pancreas, and peripheral tissues are approximately = 0.780 unit/hr/unit, ß = 0.208 unit/hr/g, = 4.34 g/hr/unit, and = 2.92 g/hr/g.