Faculty Opinions recommendation of Variability of blood glucose concentration and short-term mortality in critically ill patients.

Author(s):  
Arun Gupta
Author(s):  
Simon Finfer

Hyperglycaemia is a near universal occurrence in critically-ill patients. In the last 10 years, control of blood glucose has been one of the most intensively studied areas of critical care medicine. It has become clear that control of blood glucose has the potential to affect both morbidity and mortality, and considerable uncertainty remains over many aspects of blood glucose management. Both hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia are associated with increased mortality and should be avoided wherever possible. Wide fluctuations in blood glucose concentration (referred to as increased glucose variability) are also associated with increased mortality, but may indicate more severe illness. Increased interest in blood glucose management has demonstrated that point-of-care glucose meters designed for ambulatory use by patient with diabetes are not sufficiently accurate for use in critically-ill patients. More accurate analysers should be used in the intensive care unit and management guided by computerized. Future developments may see the introduction of accurate continuous or near continuous blood glucose analysers, but safe and effective closed loop control of blood glucose remains an elusive goal.


1990 ◽  
Vol 258 (1) ◽  
pp. E32-E39 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Klein ◽  
O. B. Holland ◽  
R. R. Wolfe

The importance of the decline in blood glucose concentration on lipolysis and the lipolytic effect of epinephrine was evaluated during short-term fasting. Lipolytic rates were determined by infusing [2H5]glycerol and [1-13C]palmitic acid. Five volunteers were studied after 12 h of fasting before and during epinephrine infusion and after 84 h of fasting, before and during glucose infusion when plasma glucose was restored to postabsorptive values, and during glucose plus epinephrine infusion. In another protocol, five volunteers were given glucose intravenously throughout fasting to maintain plasma glucose at postabsorptive levels and isotopic studies were performed after 12 and 84 h of fasting before and during epinephrine infusion. Glucose infusion after 84 h of fasting restored glucose and insulin concentrations and lipolytic rates toward 12-h fasting values. When euglycemia was maintained throughout fasting, plasma insulin still declined (P less than 0.05) and lipolytic rates still increased (P less than 0.05). Despite similar glucose concentrations, the lipolytic response to epinephrine infusion was greater after 84 h than after 12 h of fasting in both protocols (P less than 0.05). These studies demonstrate that the decline in plasma glucose contributes to, but is not required for, the increase in lipolysis during fasting. The increase in epinephrine-stimulated lipolysis that occurs during fasting is not dependent on a decrease in plasma glucose concentration.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Koch ◽  
Eray Yagmur ◽  
Janine Linka ◽  
Fabienne Schumacher ◽  
Jan Bruensing ◽  
...  

Caspase-cleaved fragments of the intermediate filament protein keratin 18 (cytokeratin-18 (CK18)) can be detected in serum as M30 levels and may serve as a circulating biomarker indicating apoptosis of epithelial and parenchymal cells. In order to evaluate M30 as a biomarker in critical illness, we analyzed circulating M30 levels in 243 critically ill patients (156 with sepsis, 87 without sepsis) at admission to the medical intensive care unit (ICU), in comparison to healthy controls (n=32). M30 levels were significantly elevated in ICU patients compared with healthy controls. Circulating M30 was closely associated with disease severity but did not differ between patients with sepsis and ICU patients without sepsis. M30 serum levels were correlated with biomarkers of inflammation, cell injury, renal failure, and liver failure in critically ill patients. Patients that died at the ICU showed increased M30 levels at admission, compared with surviving patients. A similar trend was observed for the overall survival. Regression analyses confirmed that M30 levels are associated with mortality, and patients with M30 levels above 250.8 U/L displayed an excessive short-term mortality. Thus, our data support the utility of circulating levels of the apoptosis-related keratin fragment M30 as a prognostic biomarker at ICU admission.


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