title: Differences in cardiovascular risk profile based on relationship between post-load plasma glucose and fasting plasma levels.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It has been shown that subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), whose plasma glucose (PG) levels do not return to their fasting PG level within 2 h during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) (Group I), have a significantly higher risk to develop type 2 diabetes than NGT subjects whose 2-h glucose returns to, or drops below, the fasting level (Group I). However, it is still unsettled whether individuals in Group II have a more atherogenic profile than Group I subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  To address this issue, we examined 266 non-diabetic offspring of type 2 diabetic patients, recruited in the context of EUGENE2 cross-sectional study. All subjects underwent an euglycaemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp to assess glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, cardiovascular risk factors and ultrasound measurement of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Individuals in Group II exhibited significantly higher waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, 2-h post-load PG, hsC-reactive protein, interleukin-6, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), IMT, and lower insulin sensitivity than subjects in Group I.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Subjects with NGT, whose PG concentration does not return to their fasting PG level within 2 h during OGTT, have an atherogenic profile, suggesting that performing OGTT with measurement of PG every 30 min may be useful to assess the risk for cardiovascular disease in glucose-tolerant subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University Magna-Graecia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Succurro
authors.forename: Maria Adelaide
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Marini
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grembiale
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lugarà
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Andreozzi
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sciacqua
authors.forename: Marta Letizia
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hribal
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lauro
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perticone
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sesti