Abstract

BACKGROUND
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by defects in both insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity. However, the relative importance of insulin secretion and insulin resistance in Korean type 2 diabetic patients has not been well characterized in any study that has included a large number of subjects. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the relative importance of insulin sensitivity and the function of the beta cell in Korean type 2 diabetic patients. METHODS: We applied the HOMA model to 1,162 type 2 diabetic patients (654 males and, 508 females) who did not use insulin and we assessed HOMAIR and HOMAbetacell & its relation to the other parameters. RESULTS: The HOMAIR of Korean type 2 diabetic patients was 2.29(range: 0.31~37.17) and the HOMAbetacell of Korean type 2 diabetic patients was 32.17(range: 1.04~1310.79). The HOMAIR of Korean type 2 diabetic male patients was 2.15(range: 0.31~16.6) and that of Korean type 2 diabetic female patients was 2.47(range: 0.36~37.17). The HOMAbetacell of Korean type 2 diabetic male patients was 30.1(range: 1.04~462.34) and that of Korean type 2 diabetic female patients was 35.42(range: 2.60~1310.79). The HOMAIR and HOMAbetacell were significantly higher in females than males. There was no significant correlation between HOMAIR and age, and the duration of diabetes, but there was significant correlation between HOMAIR and BMI, fasting glucose, HbA1c and the fasting insulin. There was no significant correlation between age and HOMAbetacell. However, there was significant correlation between HOMAbetacell and BMI, the duration of diabetes, the fasting glucose, HbA1c and the fasting insulin. The longer the duration of diabetes, the more the HOMAbetacell was decreased but there was no change of HOMAIR with respect to the duration of diabetes. As expected, the subjects with a lower HOMAIR and a higher HOMAbetacell had the best glycemic control. Those with a higher HOMAIR and lower HOMAbetacell had the worst glycemic control although they had taken larger amount of oral hypoglycemic agents. Interestingly, the patients with a lower HOMAIR and higher HOMAbetacell had better glycemic control than those patients with a higher HOMAIR and lower HOMAbetacell. CONCLUSION: Both insulin secretion and insulin resistance are important in glycemic control but it seems that insulin secretion is a more important factor in glycemic control than insulin resistance in the Korean type 2 diabetic patients

• Keywords: Type 2 diabetes mellitus;Homeostasis model assessment;Insulin secretion;Insulin resistance;