Action of sulphur compounds on carbohydrate metabolism and on diabetes

Abstract

Several facts discovered during this century indicate a relation between sulphur compounds and the metabolism of carbohydrates. These are: 1, the presence of sulphur in insulin; 2, the role of cystine, cysteine, and methionine in many metabolic processes; 3, the existence of sulfhydryl groups as necessary constituents of some fundamental enzymatic systems; 4, the discovery of glutathione; 5, the selective destructive action of alloxan on the SH groups and on the beta cells of the islets of Langerhans; and 6, the action of various sulphur-containing substances on carbohydrate metabolism and on diabetes.