© 2005 by the American Diabetes Association, Inc.
Family History of Type 2 Diabetes Is Associated With Decreased Insulin Sensitivity and an Impaired Balance Between Insulin Sensitivity and Insulin Secretion in White YouthFrom the Divisions of Pediatric Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes Mellitus, Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Address correspondence and reprint requests to Silva A. Arslanian, MD, Division of Endocrinology, Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, 3705 Fifth Ave. at DeSoto St., Pittsburgh, PA 15213. E-mail: silva.arslanian{at}chp.edu
OBJECTIVEFamily history of type 2 diabetes is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes in youth, which is increasing. This investigation aimed to evaluate the impact of family history of type 2 diabetes on insulin secretion relative to insulin sensitivity in healthy children. ß-Cell compensation for insulin sensitivity was calculated as the product of insulin sensitivity x first-phase insulin secretion, termed glucose disposition index (GDI). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSA total of 28 healthy white children (12 boys and 16 girls; 12.1 ± 0.5 years of age) with a positive family history of type 2 diabetes and 26 healthy white children (13 boys and 13 girls; 11.5 ± 0.4 years of age) with a negative family history of type 2 diabetes underwent a 3-h 40 mU · m2 · min1 hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp to assess insulin sensitivity and clearance and a 2-h hyperglycemic clamp to assess insulin secretion. Body composition and visceral adiposity were evaluated with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and computed tomography at the L4-L5 intervertebral space. RESULTSInsulin sensitivity was lower in children with a family history of type 2 diabetes versus children without a family history (8.8 ± 0.9 vs. 12.2 ± 1.1 µmol · kg1 · min1 per pmol/l, P = 0.02). Similarly, insulin clearance was lower. First- and second-phase insulin levels were not different between groups with and without a positive family history. The GDI was lower in youth with versus youth without a positive family history (4.1 ± 0.3 vs. 5.2 ± 0.5 mmol · kg1 · min1, P = 0.039). IGF binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) was 60% lower in youth with versus youth without the positive family history. CONCLUSIONSThese results demonstrate that family history of type 2 diabetes in white children is associated with decreased insulin sensitivity and clearance, decreased IGFBP-1, and an impaired relationship between insulin action and ß-cell compensation. Detection of these alterations in hormonal and metabolic parameters in children with a positive family history suggests that at least some of the determinants of GDI are genetic/heritable.
Abbreviations: GDI, glucose disposition index IGFBP-1 IGF binding protein-1
Type 2 diabetes is increasing in children (1,2). Both obesity and family history of type 2 diabetes are associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes in youth, irrespective of the ethnic background (3,4). Insulin resistance and ß-cell failure are prerequisites for development of type 2 diabetes. However, the relative role of each remains controversial because adult studies of at-risk first-degree relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes have yielded conflicting results. Some studies have shown that the familial nature of type 2 diabetes is manifest by the presence of insulin resistance in nondiabetic first-degree relatives (58), whereas others have shown ß-cell dysfunction (913). Despite the abundance of adult data, only few pediatric published studies have investigated the impact of family history of type 2 diabetes on parameters of glucose metabolism (1417). We previously demonstrated that black children with a family history of type 2 diabetes have 25% lower insulin-stimulated glucose disposal compared with black children without a family history of type 2 diabetes (15). On the other hand, no such differences were detected when Caucasian, African-American, and Hispanic children with versus without a family history of type 2 diabetes were studied as a group (16). In any one individual, glucose homeostasis is maintained by a reciprocal balance between insulin sensitivity and secretion (18). This relationship is a hyperbolic function such that the product of insulin sensitivity x acute insulin response is constant and is termed the glucose disposition index (GDI) (18). Therefore, assessment of ß-cell function should take into account the state of insulin sensitivity. In adults, insulin secretion, when expressed normalized for insulin sensitivity, is more familial than either parameter alone (19). This led to the suggestion that GDI may be a very useful trait for identifying genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes (18,19). Our present investigation aimed to test the hypothesis that family history of type 2 diabetes in children is associated with an impaired balance between insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion. We assessed a measure of ß-cell compensation for insulin sensitivity by calculating the product of insulin sensitivity (measured during a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp) and ß-cell function (measured during a hyperglycemic clamp) in white children with versus without a family history of type 2 diabetes.
A total of 28 healthy white children (12 boys and 16 girls) with a positive family history of type 2 diabetes and 26 healthy white children with a negative family history of type 2 diabetes (13 boys and 13 girls) were studied. A positive family history was defined as the presence of known family members with type 2 diabetes in any of three generations (siblings, parents, or grandparents) (15). All studies were approved by the Human Rights Committee of the Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh. All subjects were in good health assessed by history, physical examination, and routine hematologic and biochemical tests. Pubertal development was assessed by careful physical examination according to the criteria of Tanner and confirmed by measurements of plasma testosterone in boys, estradiol in girls, and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate in both boys and girls. Some of these subjects were reported previously (20,21). The clinical characteristics of the study participants are shown in Table 1.
All evaluations were performed in the General Clinical Research Center at Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh. Each subject was studied twice, 13 weeks apart, once during a 3-h hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp to assess insulin sensi-tivity and once during a 2-h hyperglycemic clamp to assess insulin secretion, in random order. Clamp experiments were performed after a 10- to 12-h overnight fast. For each study, two intravenous catheters were inserted after the skin and subcutaneous tissues were anesthetized with EMLA cream (Astra, Worcester, MA). One catheter was placed in a forearm vein for administration of insulin and glucose. The second catheter was placed in the dorsal contralateral hand vein, which was heated for sampling of arterialized blood. A fasting blood sample was obtained for measurement of proinsulin and C-peptide levels. Body composition was assessed with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and intra-abdominal fat by a 10-mm single axial computed tomography scan of the abdomen at the level of L4-L5 vertebrae, as reported by us previously (20,21).
In vivo insulin secretion, insulin sensitivity, and clearance During the hyperglycemic clamp, the first-phase insulin concentration was calculated as the mean of five insulin determinations at 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0, and 12.5 min of the clamp, and the second phase was calculated as the mean of eight determinations from 15 to 120 min of the clamp. The GDI was calculated as the product of insulin sensitivity x first-phase insulin level (20).
Biochemical measurements
Statistical analysis
Groups with a family history and without a family history did not differ in age, Tanner stage, BMI, fat mass, percentage of body fat, visceral adipose tissue, and subcutaneous adipose tissue (Table 1).
Fasting metabolic data
Insulin sensitivity, clearance, and secretion and GDI
When prepubertal children were analyzed separately, the group with a family history (n = 11) and the group without (n = 11) did not differ significantly in BMI (18.3 ± 0.6 vs. 17.3 ± 0.3 kg/m2) or fat mass (8.3 ± 1.3 vs. 6.6 ± 0.6 kg). Insulin sensitivity, insulin clearance, and fasting, first-phase, and second-phase insulin levels were not different between children with a family history and children without a family history (data not shown). However, GDI was lower in subjects who did have a family history (4.3 ± 0.2 vs. 6.3 ± 0.7 mmol · kg1 · min1, P = 0.022). When adolescents were analyzed separately, the group with a family history (n = 17) and the group without (n = 15) did not differ in BMI (21.2 ± 0.7 vs. 19.8 ± 0.8 kg/m2) or fat mass (13.4 ± 2.0 vs. 10.3 ± 1.8 kg). The group with a family history had lower insulin sensitivity (6.5 ± 0.9 vs. 9.6 ± 0.9 µmol · kg1 · min1 per pmol/l, respectively, P = 0.018), lower insulin clearance (11.9 ± 1.0 vs. 15.5 ± 1.2 ml · kg1 · min1, P = 0.036), and higher fasting insulin (151.2 ± 14.2 vs. 110.4 ± 7.8 pmol/l, P = 0.019). First-phase insulin and GDI were not significantly different between the two groups (721.4 ± 101.1 vs. 552.5 ± 127.2 pmol/l and 4.0 ± 0.4 vs. 4.5 ± 0.6 mmol · kg1 · min1, respectively). IGFBP-1 levels were lower in prepubertal subjects with a family history than in subjects without (28.1 ± 5.6 vs. 68.5 ± 11.3 ng/ml, P = 0.004) and pubertal subjects (9.4 ± 2.4 vs. 22.5 ± 4.7 ng/ml, P = 0.022).
The present study demonstrates that family history of type 2 diabetes in white children and adolescents is associated with lower insulin sensitivity and lower GDI. These data could possibly offer a cross-sectional view of two potentially distinct developmental stages in the natural history of the evolution of the risk for type 2 diabetes. We postulate that the earliest metabolic alterations associated with a positive family history of type 2 diabetes manifest themselves in a lower insulin secretion relative to insulin sensitivity, i.e., an impaired balance between insulin sensitivity x secretion. This is evident in prepubertal children. However, during puberty and the consequent stress of pubertal insulin resistance, significant differences in insulin sensitivity emerge between adolescents with a family history and those without one. The lower insulin sensitivity in adolescents with a family history is associated with lower insulin clearance, which could be an early compensation for the insulin resistance. The absence of significant differences in GDI in adolescents with a family history compared with adolescents without one could be due to the lower insulin clearance and the impact on circulating insulin levels. Future studies should assess insulin secretion using C-peptide modeling during a hyperglycemic clamp. Although both insulin resistance and insulin deficiency contribute to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes, considerable debate continues about which defect is the earliest. In relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes, studies have either evaluated insulin sensitivity or insulin secretion separately; only very few studies have addressed both defects simultaneously. Furthermore, most of these studies have been performed in middle-aged adults and not children. Theoretically, one would be able to detect the earliest derangements in children and at a much younger age before environmental influences set in. Adult studies have typically demonstrated that nondiabetic offspring/relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes are insulin resistant/hyperinsulinemic (5,7,8,2225). Studies that have only assessed insulin secretion have shown either low or normal insulin secretion in glucose-tolerant adults with a family history (10,13,26). When insulin secretion was expressed normalized for insulin sensitivity, adult family members of patients with type 2 diabetes showed a significantly lower product of insulin sensitivity x acute insulin release, with an estimated heritability of 70% (19). These observations led the authors to conclude that the highly familial nature of the GDI and its strong negative correlation with diabetes makes it a superior predictive measure (19). This was also documented to be the case in Pima Indians and Caucasians (2729). Similar findings of defective insulin secretion when related to insulin sensitivity were reported in a subgroup of very resistant normoglycemic adult offspring of patients with type 2 diabetes but not in an insulin-sensitive subgroup (30). An impaired balance between insulin sensitivity and secretion has also been reported in a very limited number of nondiabetic adult identical twins of patients with type 2 diabetes (11) and in overweight Latino children with a family history and impaired glucose tolerance (17).
In agreement with these studies, our investigation of children in the first decade of life demonstrates that when insulin secretion is evaluated in relation to insulin sensitivity, There is convincing evidence that IGFBP-1 plays an integral role in glucoregulation (31). Low IGFBP-1 levels are associated with adolescent obesity (32), with insulin resistance syndrome in adult type 2 diabetes (33), and with the development of glucose intolerance in adults (34). Therefore, it has been proposed that IGFBP-1 measurements may be a useful marker in these conditions. Moreover, the present study demonstrates that youth with a family history of type 2 diabetes have significantly lower IGFBP-1 levels than children who do not have a family history. Changes in insulin sensitivity, insulin clearance, and insulin levels associated with a family history of type 2 diabetes may impact plasma levels of IGFBP-1. It remains to be determined in prospective studies whether low IGFBP-1 levels have a predictive value in conversion to type 2 diabetes. In conclusion, white youth who have a family history of type 2 diabetes have low IGFBP-1 levels and demonstrate an impaired ß-cell compensation relative to their lower insulin sensitivity. Detection of a disturbed relationship between insulin action and ß-cell feedback in youth suggests that at least some of their determinants are genetic. This raises the importance of environmental intervention in the prevention of diabetes in high-risk youth.
This study was supported by U.S. Public Health Service Grants RO1-HD27503, K24-HD01357, and MO1-RR00084; the General Clinical Research Center; and Eli-Lilly. We thank the nurses of the General Clinical Research Center for their expert nursing assistance and Pat Antonio for secretarial assistance. These studies would not have been possible without the recruitment efforts of Lynnette Orlansky and Sandy Stange and, most importantly, the commitment of the volunteer children and their parents.
A table elsewhere in this issue shows conventional and Système International (SI) units and conversion factors for many substances. Received for publication February 23, 2004. Accepted for publication September 23, 2004.
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