Enrique Torres-Rasgado, Leonardo M Porchia, M Elba Gonzalez-Mejia, Ricardo Perez-Fuentes, Alicia Rivera, Martha Rodriguez- Moran, Fernando Guerrero-Romero and Jose R Romero
Background: Hypertriglyceridemia is associated with increased insulin secretion and the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes. Studies in rodents and obese children have proposed a relationship between hypertriglyceridemia and elevated plasma amylin levels. However, there are limited data regarding serum amylin and triglyceride levels in adult human subjects with impaired glucose tolerance. In this study, we evaluated the association between serum triglycerides with circulating amylin levels in adult subjects with and without impaired glucose tolerance.
Methods: Glucose, insulin, Hemoglobin A1c, triglycerides, total amylin and unreduced amylin levels were determined in 80 non-pregnant females and 60 males enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Subjects were allocated according to their glucose tolerance status into normal glucose tolerance (n=81) and impaired glucose tolerance (n=59). Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes, endocrine diseases, chronic inflammation or inflammatory diseases, as well as alcoholism were excluded. Correlation and sensitivity between triglycerides and amylin was investigated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) and Receiver-Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve, respectively.
Results: Serum triglycerides strongly correlated with only total amylin (r=0.470, p<0.05) in the impaired glucose tolerance group and not the normal glucose tolerance group. No correlation between triglycerides and unreduced amylin was observed in neither group. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was only significant for hypertriglyceridemia and total amylin in the impaired glucose tolerance group (AUC=0.731, 95% CI: 0.600-0.838, p<0.05).
Conclusion: Our results suggest that serum triglycerides and total amylin levels are significantly associated in impaired glucose tolerance subjects.