Insulin secretory reserve in insulin dependent patients at time of diagnosis and the first 180 days of insulin treatment.

Eleven newly diagnosed insulin dependent patients were studied before and during the first 16 h after start of insulin treatment. All the patients were found to have significant amounts of C-peptide in plasma indicating residual insulin secretion. The fall in blood glucose after start of insulin therapy was followed by a parallel decrease in C-peptide (R = 0.99, P < 0.01) suggesting that the beta-cells may respond to variation in blood glucose. Eight of the patients were studied 1, 4, 7, 14, 90 and 180 days after start of insulin therapy. During the first 90 days of treatment an increasing maximal C-peptide concentration was found after a standard breakfast test meal. Two thirds of this improvement i beta-cell function was found after the initial 14 days with an average increase in maximal C-peptide of 260 per cent. The sensitivity to glucose improved.