La phloridzine comme modèle expérimental

Phloridzin, a drug of which the glycosuric properties have been first described in 1886, has been intensively studied in order to understand, unsuccessfully, its mechanism of action, opposing two main theories, that of a renal permeability to sugar, and that of a renal production of sugar, a question which will be only clarified in the 1920ths. The model of animals exposed to the drug during fasting or under various feeding conditions has been more successfully used to explore several biochemical and physiological mechanisms of the carbohydrate, protein, and lipid metabolism. However, the potential application of the drug in the treatment of diabetes has not been considered at the beginning of the 20th century.