Deuterium (D) is a stable isotope of hydrogen (H) with a mass number of 2. It is present in natural waters in the form of HDO, at a concentration of 16.8 mmol/L, equivalent to 150 ppm. In a phase II clinical study, deuterium depletion reduced fasting glucose concentration and insulin resistance. In this study, we tested the effect of subnormal D-concentration on glucose metabolism in a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rat model. Animals were randomly distributed into nine groups to test the effect of D₂O (in a range of 25–150 ppm) on glucose metabolism in diabetic animals with or without insulin treatment. Serum glucose, fructose amine-, HbA1c, insulin and urine glucose levels were monitored, respectively. After the 8-week treatment, membrane-associated GLUT4 fractions from the soleus muscle were estimated by Western blot technique. Our results indicate that, in the presence of insulin, deuterium depletion markedly reduced serum levels of glucose, -fructose amine, and –HbA1c, in a dose-dependent manner. The optimal concentration of deuterium was between 125 and 140 ppm. After a 4-week period of deuterium depletion, the highest membrane-associated GLUT4 content was detected at 125 ppm. These data suggest that deuterium depletion dose-dependently enhances the effect of insulin on GLUT4 translocation and potentiates glucose uptake in diabetic rats, which explains the lower serum glucose, -fructose amine, and –HbA1c concentrations. Based on our experimental data, deuterium-depleted water could be used to treat patients with metabolic syndrome (MS) by increasing insulin sensitivity. These experiments indicate that naturally occurring deuterium has an impact on metabolic regulations.

氘 (D) 是氢 (H) 的稳定同位素，质量数为 2。它以 HDO 的形式存在于天然水中，浓度为 16.8 mmol/L，相当于 150 ppm。在一项 II 期临床研究中，氘消耗降低了空腹血糖浓度和胰岛素抵抗。在这项研究中，我们在链脲佐菌素 (STZ) 诱导的糖尿病大鼠模型中测试了低于正常 D 浓度对葡萄糖代谢的影响。将动物随机分成九组，测试D _2的效果O（在 25-150 ppm 范围内）对有或没有胰岛素治疗的糖尿病动物的葡萄糖代谢。分别监测血清葡萄糖、果糖胺、HbA1c、胰岛素和尿葡萄糖水平。在 8 周的治疗后，通过蛋白质印迹技术估计来自比目鱼肌的膜相关 GLUT4 部分。我们的结果表明，在存在胰岛素的情况下，氘消耗显着降低了血清葡萄糖、果糖胺和 –HbA1c 水平，且呈剂量依赖性。氘的最佳浓度在 125 和 140 ppm 之间。在 4 周的氘耗尽期后，在 125 ppm 处检测到最高的膜相关 GLUT4 含量。这些数据表明，氘耗竭剂量依赖性地增强胰岛素对 GLUT4 易位的影响并增强糖尿病大鼠的葡萄糖摄取，这解释了较低的血清葡萄糖、-果糖胺和 -HbA1c 浓度。根据我们的实验数据，贫氘水可用于通过增加胰岛素敏感性来治疗代谢综合征 (MS) 患者。这些实验表明，天然存在的氘对代谢调节有影响。