Difference in glucagon-like peptide-1 concentrations between C-peptide negative type 1 diabetes mellitus patients and healthy controls.

BACKGROUND: The role of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) has become a new scientific interest in the field of pathophysiology of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), but the results of the published studies were contradictory. The aim of our study was therefore to measure fasting and postprandial GLP-1 concentrations in T1DM patients and in healthy controls and to examine the difference in those concentrations between the two groups of subjects. METHODS: The cross-sectional study included 30 C-peptide negative T1DM patients, median age 37 years (20-59), with disease duration 22 years (3-45), and 10 healthy controls, median age 30 years (27-47). Fasting and postprandial total and active GLP-1 concentrations were measured by ELISA (ALPCO, USA). The data were statistically analysed by SPSS, and significance level was accepted at P < 0.05. RESULTS: Both fasting total and active GLP-1 concentrations were significantly lower in T1DM patients (total 0.4 pmol/L, 0-6.4 and active 0.2 pmol/L, 0-1.9) compared with healthy controls (total 3.23 pmol/L, 0.2-5.5 and active 0.8 pmol/L, 0.2-3.6), P = 0.008 for total GLP-1 and P = 0.001 for active GLP-1. After adjustment for age, sex and body mass index, binary logistic regression showed that both fasting total and active GLP-1 remained significantly independently lower in T1DM patients (total GLP-1: OR 2.43, 95% CI 1.203-4.909 and active GLP-1: OR 8.73, 95% CI 1.472-51.787). CONCLUSIONS: T1DM patients had independently lower total and active GLP-1 fasting concentrations in comparison with healthy people, which supports the potential therapeutic role of incretin therapy, along with insulin therapy, in T1DM patients.