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OBJECTIVE - A protective effect of residual β-cell function on microvascular complications of type 1 diabetes has been suggested. Our aim was to retrospectively evaluate the association of fasting plasma C-peptide values with micro- and macrovascular complications.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - We recruited a clinic-based cohort of 471 type 1 diabetic patients born after 1945 and cared for in the period 1994-2004. Centralized measurements and standardized procedures of ascertainment of micro- and macrovascular complications were employed. Individual cumulative averages of A1C up to 2007 were calculated.
RESULTS - Residual β-cell secretion was detected even many years after diabetes diagnosis. In multivariate linear regression analysis, fasting plasma C-peptide values were positively associated with age at diagnosis (β = 0.02; P < 0.0001) and triglycerides (β = 0.20; P = 0.05) and inversely associated with diabetes duration (β = -0.03; P < 0.0001) and HDL cholesterol (β = -0.006; P = 0.03). The final model explained 21% of fasting C-peptide variability. With respect to fasting C-peptide values in the lowest tertile (<0.06 nmol/l), higher values were associated with lower prevalence of microvascular complications (odds ratio [OR] 0.59 [95% CI 0.37-0.94]) independently of age, sex, diabetes duration, individual cumulative A1C average during the study period, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. No association was evident with macrovascular complications (0.77 [0.38-1.58]).
CONCLUSIONS - Our study shows an independent protective effect of residual β-cell function on the development of microvascular complications in type 1 diabetes, suggesting the potential beneficial effect of treatment that allows the preservation of even modest β-cell function over time.
Diabetes Care 32:301-305, 2009
Type 1 diabetes is due to chronic autoimmune destruction of insulinproducing β-cells. Few studies, however, have assessed changes in insulin secretion over time in affected people and its relationship with diabetes complications (1-4). C-peptide has been widely accepted as the most appropriate measure of residual ß-cell function because it is secreted on a basis equimolar to insulin and, unlike the latter, is not removed in the first pass through the liver (5).
Studies have pointed out relationships of residual β-cell function with age at diagnosis (6,7), markers of ß-cell autoimmunity (8,9), and glycemic control (10). The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (4) has pointed out the benefits of higher and sustained levels of...