It has been known for more than sixty years, since the inception of widespread clinical blood glucose testing, that administration of a large glucose load is followed in most healthy subjects by an early rise in blood glucose concentration and that this is followed by a late rebound fall ΓÇô often to hypoglycaemic levels (Fig. 20.23). The rise in blood glucose concentration is more marked in arterial blood than in venous blood. It is due to increased glucose uptake by peripheral tissues, under the influence of insulin released in response to the combined effects of arterial hyperglycaemia and alimentary stimuli.
