Basal and Postglucagon C-Peptide Levels in Ethiopians with Diabetes

Clinical Care/Education/Nutrition

¹Department of Endocrinology Diabetes and Metabolism, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio
²Department of Internal Medicine III, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
³Department of Internal Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
⁴Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio

Diabetes Care 2002 Mar; 25(3): 453-457. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.25.3.453

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Figure 1—
Distribution of C-peptide levels (nmol/l) in the three groups of subjects. A: BCP levels. B: PGCP levels. C: Increment in C-peptide levels after glucagon. In A and B, within each group, percentages above and below the cutoff values of 0.2 and 0.32 nmol/l, respectively, are displayed. Box and whisker plots: the box gives the median as well as the 25th and 75th percentiles (denoted q1 and q3), whereas the whiskers extend to the furthest observation within 1.5 × (q3 − q1) of the adjacent quartile. DM1, type 1 diabetic subjects; DM2, type 2 diabetic subjects; IQR, interquartile range.

Table 1—

Characteristics of the three groups of subjects

	Type 1 diabetic subjects (A)	Type 2 diabetic subjects (B)	Control subjects (C)	P
n	56	97	50
Sex (M/F)	34/22	37/60	29/21	A vs. B=0.011 A vs. C=0.844 B vs. C=0.024
Age (years)	30.0 ± 1.4	51.5 ± 1.0	29.0 ± 1.5	A vs. B <0.001 A vs. C=0.502 B vs. C <0.001
BMI (kg/m²)*	20.2 ± 0.4	24.6 ± 0.5	20.3 ± 0.4	A vs. B <0.001 A vs. C=0.992 B vs. C <0.001
WHR*	0.88 ± 0.01	0.94 ± 0.01	0.83 ± 0.01	A vs. B <0.001 A vs. C <0.001 B vs. C <0.001
Systolic blood pressure*	114.8 ± 2.8	133.7 ± 2.1	120.2 ± 2.1	A vs. B <0.001 A vs. C=0.015 B vs. C <0.001
Diastolic blood pressure*	76.4 ± 1.3	81.4 ± 1.1	78.7 ± 1.8	A vs. B=0.003 A vs. C=0.301 B vs. C=0.079

Data are means ±SEM.
*
↵* Although statistically significant differences were observed among groups, multivariate analysis indicated that these differences were not statistically significant when adjusted for differences in age, sex, and/or BMI.

Table 2—
C-peptide levels (in nmol/l) in subjects with type 2 diabetes according to type of treatment
Insulin Oral agents and/or diet P
BCP 0.55 ± 0.08 (37) 0.73 ± 0.04 (60) 0.001
PGCP 0.97 ± 0.20 (18) 1.40 ± 0.11 (35) 0.010
Increment 0.34 ± 0.06 (18) 0.67 ± 0.07 (35) 0.003

Data are means ±SEM (n).
Table 3—
BMI (in kg/m²) according to BCP categories*
Groups
BCP level categories
P
<0.2 nmol/l ≥0.2 nmol/l
Type 1 diabetic subjects 19.7 ± 0.36 (46) 22.4 ± 1.13 (9) 0.023
Type 2 diabetic subjects 18.6 ± 0.92 (6) 25.0 ± 0.46 (84) <0.001

Data are mean ±SEM (n).
*
↵* Analysis performed in 90 type 2 and 55 type 1 diabetic subjects in whom reliable BMI data were available.

March 2002, 25(3)