The beta-cell response to glucagon and mixed meal stimulation in non-insulin dependent diabetes.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlations of the C-peptide and insulin responses after stimulation with glucagon intravenously as well as the 24-h urinary excretion of C-peptide to the C-peptide response to a standard mixed meal in 30 patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Fasting plasma C-peptide as well as the C-peptide and insulin responses to glucagon, showed similar but only modest correlations with the C-peptide response to the meal. Urinary C-peptide showed no correlation with the C-peptide response to the meal, but correlated modestly with fasting plasma C-peptide (r = 0.55, p less than 0.01). The C-peptide and insulin responses after meal stimulation correlated modestly inversely with HbA1. In conclusion, measurement of C-peptide in fasting state, as well as measurements of C-peptide and insulin after glucagon stimulation, only modestly predict the C-peptide response to physiologic stimulation in NIDDM. Twenty-four-hour urinary C-peptide excretion does not predict this response. Patients with NIDDM seem to show a better metabolic control if they have a more pronounced beta-cell response to physiologic stimulation.