Circadian and circannual variations in plasma immunoreactive insulin (IRI) and C-peptide concentrations in elderly subjects.

Groups of 49-51 elderly men and women 77 +/- 8 years of age, institutionalized at the Berceni Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Romania, were studied over a 24 hour span in spring, summer, fall and winter. All subjects followed a diurnal activity pattern with rest at night and ate three meals per day with breakfast at about 08:30, lunch at about 13:00, dinner at 18:30. The meals were similar, although not identical for all subjects during all seasons. On each day of sampling, blood was collected at four hourly intervals over a 24 hrs span. Immunoreactive insulin (IRI) and C-peptide were determined in plasma and glucose (during fall and winter only) in serum. Circadian variations of all three parameters were found and the rhythm parameters were determined statistically by cosinor analysis. The acrophases of the circadian rhythm of IRI and C-peptide were the same during all four seasons. The circadian acrophase of plasma IRI and C-peptide precedes that of serum glucose. The circadian mean concentrations of IRI and C-peptide show a circannual variation with higher values in winter and fall than in spring and summer for plasma insulin and with higher values for summer and fall than in spring for C-peptide. Sex differences in IRI and C-peptide concentrations with higher values in men are manifested during certain circadian and circannual stages but not during others.