Carbohydrate and Ketone Body Metabolism in the Sodium Fluoroacetate-Poisoned Rat. ‘SFA Diabetes’

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Abstract
Effects of intraperitoneal injection of sodium fluoroacetate (SFA) on blood sugar and ketone levels of 24-hour fasted rats were studied. SFA poisoning was associated with an immediate but irregular increase in blood sugar and ketones and a consistently marked hyperglycemia and hyperketonemia for 24 hours. With smaller doses, ketonemia occurred regularly in 4 hours, but with larger doses it was irregular, presumably because of concurrent peripheral circulatory failure. SFA poisoning prolonged duration and degree of ketonemia following intravenous infusion of sodium octanoate but had no effect on the ketonemia after administration of a fat emulsion by mouth or vein. The enhanced ketonemia in the SFA-treated rat during and after octanoate infusion apparently indicates both increased production and decreased utilization of ketone bodies. Glycerol monoacetate and glycerol decreased ketosis immediately and 24 hours later in SFA-poisoned rats and were more effective than glucose. All increased blood sugar levels significantly. Cortisone acetate treatment markedly suppressed ketosis, but had no influence on blood sugar levels of SFA-poisoned rats. The hyperglycemia and ketonemia of the SFA-poisoned rats presumably represent diabetes mellitus secondary to the general metabolic effects of SFA on the tissues, or to a more specific effect of SFA on insulin production by the beta cells of the pancreas. Significance of these effects is discussed briefly.