EEG beta 1 oscillation and sucrose sensitization in fibromyalgia with chemical intolerance.

Patients with fibromyalgia (FM) have diffuse musculoskeletal pain; half report concomitant intolerance for low levels of environmental chemicals (CI). Previous investigators have hypothesized that the chronic pain and chemical intolerance reflect sensitization of different central nervous system limbic and/or mesolimbic reward pathways. We evaluated electroencephalographic (EEG) beta activity and blood glucose responses of FM patients with and without CI and normals during three repeated sucrose ingestion sessions and during a final, water-only session (testing for conditioning). The FM with CI exhibited oscillation (reversal in direction of change from session to session) at rest and then sensitization (progressive amplification) of EEG beta 1 over time across the 3 sucrose sessions versus controls. FM with CI showed sensitization of blood glucose over the 3 sucrose sessions, which, like the EEG findings, reverted toward baseline in the final water-only session. The data suggest that the subset of FM patients with CI have increased susceptibility to oscillation and physiological sensitization without conditioning, perhaps contributing to fluctuations in their chronic course.

Could intranasal insulin be useful in the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus?

To evaluate whether intranasal insulin might be useful as a meal-adjunct in the treatment of NIDDM we compared plasma glucose and insulin responses to a mixed breakfast (9 kcal/kg, 50% carbohydrate) following either intranasal insulin (INI) or placebo in eleven patients with NIDDM. Five patients treated with subcutaneous insulin and in good to moderate glycemic control and six patients who were 'failing' on oral agents and in poor glycemic control were studied. In the patients usually on sc insulin, INI inhibited postprandial hyperglycemia. Lower doses (1 U/kg vs 1.5 U/kg b.w.) were needed to accomplish this in 2 patients with low fasting glucose (less than or equal to 7.8 mmol/l) than in three patients with higher fasting glucose (10.5 +/- 0.5 mmol/l). In the patients on oral agents who had marked fasting hyperglycemia (14.8 +/- 0.8 mmol/l) an only transient reduction (for 90 to 120 min) of postprandial hyperglycemia was achieved when INI (1 U/kg) was given in addition to po glyburide (10 mg) prior to the meal. Following placebo in the group previously treated with sc insulin, plasma free insulin levels increased maximally by 23 mU/l, 75 min after the meal. The group on oral agents had a comparable but later peak increment (at 180 min) indicative of an even greater impairment of endogenous insulin secretion in response to hyperglycemia. Following INI, the peak increment in plasma insulin occurred earlier (30 min after the meal) and was greater in all patients (55 +/- 18, 139 +/- 68, 86 +/- 24 mU/l respectively for the prior sc insulin therapy group at doses of 1.0 and 1.5 U/kg and for the oral agent group at 1.0 U/kg).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Intranasal aerosolized insulin. Mixed-meal studies and long-term use in type I diabetes.

We assessed the efficacy of intranasal aerosolized insulin containing laureth-9 as a surfactant in patients with Type I diabetes by fasting studies in 8 patients, mixed-meal studies in 15, and long-term home use in 8. The intranasal insulin (1 U per kilogram of body weight in 1 per cent laureth-9) was rapidly absorbed (in 15 minutes); it lowered the plasma glucose level by 50 per cent in 45 minutes in fasting normal controls and by 50 per cent in 120 minutes in fasting diabetics. The glucose-lowering potency depended on the insulin dose and surfactant concentration. Nasal irritation was proportional to surfactant concentration, with great variability among subjects. After intranasal insulin used before meals (1 U per kilogram in 1 per cent laureth-9), the two-hour postprandial glucose level increased above before-meal levels by 38 mg per deciliter, as compared with 191 mg per deciliter after intranasal placebo in patients with Type I diabetes (P less than 0.05). An outpatient feasibility study examining three months of use of intranasal aerosolized insulin before meals as a supplement to Ultralente insulin revealed that the aerosol was well tolerated, with glycemic control (as indicated by the percentage of glycohemoglobin, home glucose measurements, and hypoglycemic reactions) comparable to that during a subsequent three-month period of conventional subcutaneous insulin treatment. The results suggest that intranasal insulin has potential as an adjunct to subcutaneous insulin in the therapy of Type I diabetes.