Blood sugar levels indicative of β-cell dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes: Study
USA: Blood sugar levels in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) treated with metformin alone, is strongly associated β-cell dysfunction, finds a recent study in the Journal of Diabetes and its Complications. This implies that efforts for glycemia improvement should focus on interventions to improve β-cell function.
Kristina M. Utzschneidera, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA, and colleagues aimed to evaluate the relationship between measures of glycemia with β-cell function and insulin sensitivity in adults with early type 2 diabetes.
For the purpose, the researchers assessed baseline data from 3108 adults with T2DM <10 years treated with metformin alone enrolled in the Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes.
A Comparative Effectiveness (GRADE) Study -- Using oral glucose tolerance tests, insulin and C-peptide responses and insulin sensitivity were calculated. Regression models evaluated the relationships between glycemic measures (HbA1c, fasting and 2-h glucose), measures of β-cell function and insulin sensitivity.
Key findings of the study include:
- Insulin and C-peptide responses were inversely associated with insulin sensitivity.
- Glycemic measures were inversely associated with insulin and C-peptide responses adjusted for insulin sensitivity.
- HbA1c demonstrated modest associations with β-cell function (range: r − 0.22 to −0.35).
- Fasting and 2-h glucose were associated with early insulin and C-peptide responses (range: r − 0.37 to −0.40) as well as late insulin and total insulin and C-peptide responses (range: r − 0.50 to −0.60).
"Glycemia correlates more strongly with β-cell dysfunction than insulin resistance," wrote the authors.
"Glycemia is strongly associated with β-cell dysfunction in adults with early T2DM treated with metformin alone," they concluded. "Efforts to improve glycemia should focus on interventions aimed at improving β-cell function."
Reference:
The study titled, "Association of glycemia with insulin sensitivity and β-cell function in adults with early type 2 diabetes on metformin alone," is published in the Journal of Diabetes and its Complications.
DOI: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1056872721000866
