Diabetes mellitus remission observed in first year following bariatric surgery, reports research

A new study published in the journal of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice showed that following bariatric surgery, patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes mellitus experienced remission. Also, results were closely correlated with β-cell activity and the percentage of total weight lost.

The β-cell function appears to have reached a point of no return in patients with type 2 diabetes that has been present for more than 10 years. Observing the first-phase insulin secretion in long-term T2DM patients with diabetes remission and investigating the major determinants of diabetes remission in patients with a period of T2DM ≥ 10 years who went through bariatric surgery, which includes the outcomes of insulin-treated patients (I-T2DM) and non-insulin-treated patients (NI-T2DM), were the goals of this study.

The patients who had bariatric surgery and have had type 2 diabetes for at least 10 years were included retrospectively and monitored. An HbA1c < 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) at least three months after stopping hypoglycemic medications was considered remission of diabetes. The patients who were in remission from diabetes had an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT).

Nearly, 59.6% of the 203 individuals with T2DM who had been treated with insulin prior to bariatric surgery had been with the disease for at least 10 years. Remission rates at one, two, and three years after surgery were 65.6%, 53.8%, and 41.9%, respectively.

According to Cox regression analysis, the percentage of total weight loss (%TWL) and β-cell function had the strongest correlations with the probabilities of remission one year after bariatric surgery. In 50 individuals with diabetic remission, the first-phase insulin production peak was around 5–8 times the fasting insulin level.

Overall, this study found that one year following bariatric surgery, the diabetes remission rate for T2DM patients who have had the disease for at least ten years can still exceed two-thirds. But between years 1 and 3, the remission rate dropped by around 10% a year, underscoring the significance of long-term monitoring for these individuals.

Source:

Zhang, N., Zhou, B., Wang, H., Xue, X., Huang, Y., Wang, S., Wang, Z., Niu, W., Liu, B., Nie, Y., Li, Z., Zhang, L., Wang, P., Chou, S., Yao, L., Ran, S., Lv, J., Liu, G., Li, G., … ODHM(Obesity and Diabetes Health Management) Study Group. (2025). Predictors of diabetes remission after bariatric surgery in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus duration ≥ 10 years: A retrospective cohort study. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 112164, 112164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2025.112164