The question of early insulin response to glucose in patients with ischemic heart disease: a retrospective study in twins. Preliminary communication.

The genetic determination of the early insulin response (EIR) to a standard intravenous glucose load and the relation between EIR and manifestations of ischemic heart disease (IHD) by means of ECG abnormalities was studied in 18 monozygotic (MZ) and 13 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs aged 53-76 years. Intrapair variances for EIR and basal glucose was significantly smaller in MZ than DZ twins, indicating that genetic factors are of importance for the regulation of these two parameters. No genetic influence on glucose tolerance was found. In DZ twins discordant with respect to pathologic Q waves (Minnesota Code 1.1), significantly lower EIR was found in twin partners with Q wave abnormality. These findings also point to an association between low EIR and IHD.