Both Relative Insulin Resistance and Defective Islet β-Cell Processing of Proinsulin Are Responsible for Transient Hyperglycemia in Extremely Preterm Infants

Abstract

These data suggest that 1) preterm neonates are sensitive to changes in plasma glucose concentration, but proinsulin processing to insulin is partially defective in hyperglycemic preterm neonates; 2) hyperglycemic neonates are relatively resistant to insulin because higher insulin levels are needed to achieve euglycemia in this group compared with normoglycemic neonates. These results also show that insulin infusion is beneficial in extremely preterm infants with transient hyperglycemia.