218 - Diabetes and laboratory in the nineteenth century
Autor(s): G. Dall'Olio
Issue: RIMeL - IJLaM, Vol. 3, N. 3, 2007 (MAF Servizi srl ed.)
Page(s): 218-221
Diabetes and laboratory in the nineteenth century
Arnaldo Cantani reports in 1872 a theory about the
etiology of diabetes mellitus that according to him is a
disease in the “material metabolism”. The sugar rises since
it is not burned by the body of the diabetic patient.
The not burning theory suggests to Cantani a further
hypothesis: the blood of the diabetic patients contains
a new sugar, that they cannot burn since it is different
from the glucose. He uses laboratory tests to demonstrate
the difference between the sugar present in the
blood of the diabetics, that he calls since 1865 “paraglucose”,
and the glucose, present in the urine. While
the chemical methods do not demonstrate any difference
between the sugar in the blood and that in the
urine the polarimeter demonstrates a difference; the
urine deviates light toward right, the blood does not
cause any deviation.
Cantani concludes that they are different sugars and
they should have different names: “paraglucose” for
the sugar in the blood and “glucose” for the dextrorotatory
glucose present in the urine of diabetic patient.