Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) are incretin hormones secreted in response to meal ingestion, thereby enhancing postprandial insulin secretion. Therefore, an attenuated incretin response could contribute to the impaired insulin responses in patients with diabetes mellitus. The aim of the present investigation was to investigate incretin secretion, in obesity and type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus, and its dependence on the magnitude of the meal stimulus. Plasma concentrations of incretin hormones (total, reflecting secretion and intact, reflecting potential action) were measured during two meal tests (260 kcal and 520 kcal) in eight type 1 diabetic patients, eight lean healthy subjects, eight obese type 2 diabetic patients, and eight obese healthy subjects. Both in diabetic patients and in healthy subjects, significant increases in GLP-1 and GIP concentrations were seen after ingestion of both meals. The incretin responses were significantly higher in all groups after the large meal, compared with the small meal, with correspondingly higher C-peptide responses. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients had normal GIP responses, compared with healthy subjects, whereas decreased GLP-1 responses were seen in type 2 diabetic patients, compared with matched obese healthy subjects. Incremental GLP-1 responses were normal in type 1 diabetic patients. Increased fasting concentrations of GIP and an early enhanced postprandial GIP response were seen in obese, compared with lean healthy subjects, whereas GLP-1 responses were the same in the two groups. beta-cell sensitivity to glucose, evaluated as the slope of insulin secretion rates vs. plasma glucose concentration, tended to increase in both type 2 diabetic patients (29%, P = 0.19) and obese healthy subjects (22% P = 0.04) during the large meal, compared with the small meal, perhaps reflecting the increased incretin response. We conclude: 1) that a decreased GLP-1 secretion may contribute to impaired insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes mellitus, whereas GIP and GLP-1 secretion is normal in type 1 diabetic patients; and 2) that it is possible to modulate the beta-cell sensitivity to glucose in obese healthy subjects, and possibly also in type 2 diabetic patients, by giving them a large meal, compared with a small meal.

Our findings suggest that reduced incretin effect and fasting hyperglucagonaemia constitute very early steps in the pathophysiology of T2DM detectable even in obese people who despite their insulin-resistant state have NGT.

Aims/hypothesis The aim of this study was to evaluate the separate impact of insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) on the incretin effect. Methods Twenty-one healthy glucose-tolerant first-degree relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes underwent a 75 g OGTT, an isoglycaemic i.v. glucose test and a mixed meal to evaluate the incretin effect before and after treatment with dexamethasone to increase insulin resistance. Beta cell glucose sensitivity, beta cell index and fasting proinsulin were measured as indices of beta cell function.Results After dexamethasone, ten individuals had increased insulin resistance but normal glucose tolerance (NGT), while 11 individuals with an equal increase in insulin resistance developed IGT. In the NGT and IGT groups, the incretin effects were 71±3.2% and 67±4.6% (p00.4) before treatment, but decreased significantly in both groups to 58±5.2% and 32±8.8% (p<0.05 between groups) after treatment. Dexamethasone increased total glucagon-like peptide-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide responses to the OGTT. The impaired incretin effect in NGT was observed in the absence of reductions in beta cell glucose sensitivity and beta cell index during i.v. glucose, corrected for insulin resistance, but in parallel with increased proinsulin/C-peptide ratio. Conclusion/interpretation Insulin resistance and IGT, representing two stages in the path towards diabetes, are associated with differential reductions in the incretin effect seen before the development of IGT and overt type 2 diabetes. The reduction is unrelated to secretion of incretin hormones, but is related to insulin resistance and subtle beta cell defects, and is further aggravated on development of IGT.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00784745.

Four weeks of near-normalization of BG had no effect on postprandial secretion of incretin hormones. Nevertheless, several parameters of meal-induced insulin secretion improved after insulin treatment.