A study of insulin resistance and pancreatic beta cell function in diabetics and non-diabetics

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: The most common non-communicable disease affecting large population is type 2 diabetes mellitus. This metabolic disorder is characterized by hyperglycemia with disturbances of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism. The causes of diabetes mellitus can vary greatly but always include either defects in insulin secretion of the pancreas or the cells of the body not responding properly to the insulin produced or in both at some point in the course of the disease.
 Materials and Methods: 200 participants who were divided into two groups, non-diabetics with and without family history of diabetes were involved in this study. The outcomes of fasting plasma glucose, postprandial plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin, fasting plasma insulin, serum c-peptide, HOMA -IR, HOMA-B were compared between both the groups.
 Results: All these parameters were significantly correlated between the groups with the level of significance p<0.05%. Non-diabetic off-springs of type 2 diabetes were found to have hyperinsulinemia, increased level of serum c-peptide level, moderate insulin resistance and pancreatic beta cell dysfunction than non-diabetics without the family history of diabetes. The fasting hyperinsulinemia, known to reflect decreased insulin sensitivity constitute the strongest independent predictor of type 2 diabetes.
 Conclusion: The above findings show that insulin resistance is the primary abnormality in type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.