Context: The role of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity is not fully understood.
Objective: We investigate the association of cardiometabolic, diet, and lifestyle parameters on fasting and postprandial GLP-1 in people at risk of, or living with, T2D.
Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional data from the two Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Diabetes Research on Patient Stratification (DIRECT) cohorts, cohort 1 (n = 2127) individuals at risk of diabetes; cohort 2 (n = 789) individuals with new-onset T2D.
Results: Our multiple regression analysis reveals that fasting total GLP-1 is associated with an insulin-resistant phenotype and observe a strong independent relationship with male sex, increased adiposity, and liver fat, particularly in the prediabetes population. In contrast, we showed that incremental GLP-1 decreases with worsening glycemia, higher adiposity, liver fat, male sex, and reduced insulin sensitivity in the prediabetes cohort. Higher fasting total GLP-1 was associated with a low intake of wholegrain, fruit, and vegetables in people with prediabetes, and with a high intake of red meat and alcohol in people with diabetes.
Conclusion: These studies provide novel insights into the association between fasting and incremental GLP-1, metabolic traits of diabetes and obesity, and dietary intake, and raise intriguing questions regarding the relevance of fasting GLP-1 in the pathophysiology T2D.
Keywords: GLP-1; cardiometabolic markers; diet; incretin; insulin resistance; liver fat; nutrition; obesity; prediabetes; type 2 diabetes.
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Endocrine Society.