Reduced Insulinotropic Effect of Gastric Inhibitory Polypeptide in First-Degree Relatives of Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

In patients with type 2 diabetes, gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) has lost much of its insulinotropic activity. Whether this is similar in first-degree relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes is unknown. A total of 21 first-degree relatives, 10 patients with type 2 diabetes, and 10 control subjects (normal oral glucose tolerance) were examined. During a hyperglycemic “clamp” (140 mg/dl for 120 min), synthetic human GIP (2 pmol · kg⁻¹ · min⁻¹) was infused intravenously (30–90 min). With exogenous GIP, patients with type 2 diabetes responded with a lower increment (Δ) in insulin (P = 0.0003) and C-peptide concentrations (P < 0.0001) than control subjects. The GIP effects in first-degree relatives were diminished compared with control subjects (Δ insulin: P = 0.04; Δ C-peptide: P = 0.016) but significantly higher than in patients with type 2 diabetes (P ≤ 0.05). The responses over the time course were below the 95% CI derived from control subjects in 7 (insulin) and 11 (C-peptide) of 21 first-degree relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes. In conclusion, a reduced insulinotropic activity of GIP is typical for a substantial subgroup of normoglycemic first-degree relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes, pointing to an early, possibly genetic defect.