Maleness as Risk Factor for Slowly Progressive IDDM

Tetsuro Kobayashi; Koji Nakanishi; Tadao Sugimoto; Tokuji Itoh; Toshio Murase; Kinori Kosaka; Kimiyoshi Tsuji

doi:10.2337/diacare.12.1.7

Original Articles

Maleness as Risk Factor for Slowly Progressive IDDM

Tetsuro Kobayashi, MD,
Koji Nakanishi, MD,
Tadao Sugimoto, MD,
Tokuji Itoh, MD,
Toshio Murase, MD,
Kinori Kosaka, MD and
Kimiyoshi Tsuji, MD

Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Toranomon Hospital, Okinaka Memorial Institute for Medical Research Minato-ku, Tokyo Department of Transplantation, School of Medicine, Tokai University Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Tetsuro Kobayashi, MD, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Toranomon Hospital, 2–2-2 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105, Japan.

Diabetes Care 1989 Jan; 12(1): 7-11. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.12.1.7

Abstract

The effect of sex on longitudinal changes in serum C-peptide immunoreactivity (CPR) response to the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was examined up to 48 mo in 30 islet cell antibody-positive (ICA⁺), non-insulindependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) subjects (15 men, 15 women) who were matched for age, duration of diabetes, and mode of treatment. The subjects were recruited from 2858 NIDDM patients screened for ICA between 1980 and 1984. In male NIDDM subjects, CPR levels to OGTT decreased insidiously, and 8 of 15 men developed the insulin-dependent state with abolished CPR. Only 2 female NIDDM subjects progressed to the insulin-dependent state (P < .05, women vs. men). Thus, CPR in female subjects tended to decrease less than in male subjects. There were no significant differences between the two groups in human leukocyte antigens (HLA) or titer of ICA during the follow-up period. These results suggest that maleness is a major risk factor for slowly progressive β-cell dysfunction in adult-onset insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM).