Reduced Insulin Sensitivity in Mexican-Americans From San Antonio With Elevated Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Compared With Mexicans From Mexico City
- Francesco Belfiore, MD and
- Silvia Iannello, MD
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
The interesting article by Burke et al. (1) in the September issue of Diabetes Care reports a higher incidence of type 2 diabetes among low-income Mexican-American residents in San Antonio, Texas, than in a comparable population from Mexico City, Mexico. This difference was not accounted for by the potential mediating factors examined (BMI; waist circumference; fasting and 2-h post–glucose load insulin and glucose; fasting triglycerides and HDL cholesterol; and percentage of impaired glucose tolerance, impaired fasting glucose, or hypertension).
However, in our opinion, an important consideration is missing: the possible role of reduced insulin sensitivity in the high incidence of type 2 diabetes in San Antonio. Indeed, analysis of the data shown in Table 2 of the paper by Burke et al. indicates that both men and women who were residents in San Antonio had statistically significant higher 2-h glucose and 2-h insulin levels compared with men and women who were residents in Mexico City. The simultaneous increase …
