In anticipation of a predicted shortage of insulin in the near future, Johlin1 of the Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University, has suggested a plausible method for economy in the use of insulin. Experiments on rabbits indicate that the conventional dosage of insulin can be reduced by half through the use of certain amino acid adjuvants.
Earlier investigators2 found that the normal blood sugar level of rabbits can be increased or decreased by administrations of adequate doses of amino acids. Schenk3 found that glycine was the most effective of the amino acids which decreased the blood sugar level. Given orally 1.5 Gm. glycine, produced hypoglycemia, which reached its maximum in about one hour and disappeared within eight hours. Schenk found that self-administered glycine produced similar hypoglycemia in man.
As a preliminary to tests of the adjuvant action of glycine in insulin therapy, Johlin determined the minimum convulsive dose