Intravenous lipid and amino acids briskly increase plasma glucose concentrations in small premature infants.

We determined the glycemic response to intravenous lipid infusion alone, lipid with amino acids, or amino acids alone in 15 very small premature infants receiving constant glucose infusion during early life. Infants who received lipid or lipid and amino acids demonstrated significant increases in glucose compared with infants who received amino acids. The combination of lipid and amino acids resulted in an earlier increase than lipid alone. Although plasma insulin did not change in all three groups, infants who received amino acids alone demonstrated an appropriate increase in glucagon. These data suggest that lipid infusion, a commonly used means of providing nutrition to premature infants, may cause significant disturbances in glucoregulation, particularly when administered with amino acids.