Relationship between metabolic syndrome and meal-induced glucagon like peptide-1 response in type 1 diabetic patients1-1

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is found in approximately% 30-40% of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Meal-induced glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion in T1DM patients with MS is yet to be clarified. The aim of the present study was to analyse the relationship between total fasting GLP-1 concentrations and the meal-induced GLP-1 response with MS prevalence in T1DM patients compared with lean, normal glucose tolerance (NGT), control subjects.

Methods: The study included 77 T1DM patients (61% male), 26 (34%) with MS, who had a mean age of 45.08 years, mean body mass index (BMI) of 25.42 kg/m(2) , and median diabetes duration of 21 years. Ten age-, gender, and BMI-matched NGT control subjects were also included in the study. Circulating GLP-1 concentrations ere measured before and 30 min after a meal by ELISA. The difference between the 30-min postprandial and fasting GLP-1 concentration (ΔGLP-1) was calculated by subtracting fasting GLP-1 concentrations from postprandial GLP-1 concentrations.

Results: The NGT group had significantly higher total fasting, postprandial, and meal-induced GLP-1 concentrations than the T1DM groups. The T1DM patients without MS had a higher increase in circulating GLP-1 concentrations compared with the T1DM group with MS. After adjustment for age, gender, disease duration, and meal caloric value, GLP-1 response levels were inversely correlated with MS prevalence in binary logistic regression analysis.

Conclusion: A higher meal-induced GLP-1 response is associated with lower MS prevalence, but whether GLP-1 has a protective role in MS development is yet to be determined. This may provide further insight into the implementation of GLP-1-based therapies in the T1DM population.