Differences in cardiovascular risk profile based on relationship between post-load plasma glucose and fasting plasma levels.
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.
Succurro
Elena
E
Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University Magna-Graecia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
Marini
Maria Adelaide
MA
Grembiale
Alessandro
A
Lugarà
Marina
M
Andreozzi
Francesco
F
Sciacqua
Angela
A
Hribal
Marta Letizia
ML
Lauro
Renato
R
Perticone
Francesco
F
Sesti
Giorgio
G