Summary
Plasma insulin, intact proinsulin and 32–33 split proinsulin measured by specific immunoradiometric assays and insulin and C-peptide measured by radioimmunoassay were measured during a constant infusion of glucose test in ten diet-treated subjects with a history of Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes (termed diabetic subjects), mean fasting plasma glucose 6.0 ± 1.0 mmol/l (mean ± SD), and 12 non-diabetic control subjects. Immunoreactive insulin concentrations measured by radioimmunoassay were 33 higher than insulin and 16 % higher than the sum of insulin and its precursors by immunoradiometric assay. The diabetic and non-diabetic subjects had similar fasting concentrations of insulin, intact proinsulin and 32–33 split proinsulin. The ratio of fasting intact proinsulin to total insulin was greater in the diabetic than the non-diabetic group 12.0 % (6.8–21.0 %, 1 SD range) and 6.3 % (4.0–9.8 %), respectively,p < 0.01), though the groups overlapped substantially. After glucose infusion, diabetic and non-diabetic subjects had similar intact proinsulin concentrations (geometric mean 4.9 and 5.2 pmol/l, respectively), but the diabetic group had impaired insulin secretion by immunoradiometric assay (geometric means 55 and 101 pmol/1,p < 0.05) or by radioimmunoassay C-peptide (geometric means 935 and 1410 pmol/1,p < 0.05), though not by radioimmunoassay insulin (87 and 144 pmol/1,p = 0.12), respectively. Individual immunoradiometric assay insulin responses to glucose expressed in terms of obesity were subnormal in nine of ten diabetic subjects. Radioimmunoassay insulin and C-peptide gave less complete discrimination ( subnormal responses in six of ten and eight of ten, respectively). Thus, raised proinsulin and proinsulin:total insulin ratio are not necessarily a feature of mild diet-treated Type 2 diabetic patients with subnormal insulin responses to glucose.
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Clark, P.M., Levy, J.C., Cox, L. et al. Immunoradiometric assay of insulin, intact proinsulin and 32–33 split proinsulin and radioimmunoassay of insulin in diet-treated Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic subjects. Diabetologia 35, 469–474 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02342446
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02342446