Inhibitory effect of furosemide on glucose transport.

The carrier-mediated glucose transport function in the intact human erythrocytes and also that of their isolated membranes is markedly inhibited in the presence of furosemide in vitro. A noncompetitive process is believed to be involved since the transport inhibition was not affected by the presence of high concentrations of glucose in the medium. The inhibition developed slowly over 2 hours. Most of the inhibition was slowly reversed during a 3-hour incubation in medium free of the drug. It is concluded that furosemide inhibits the glucose transport function directly in absence of insulin-mediated transduction mechanism and independently of any interference with intracellular glycolysis.