Both insulin resistance and decreased insulin secretion have been hypothesized to be precursors of non-insulin-dependent diabetes. An elevated proinsulin concentration reflects abnormal proinsulin processing and could indicate abnormal insulin secretion. We examined fasting insulin (measured by a radioimmunoassay that does not cross-react with proinsulin), as a marker of insulin resistance, and proinsulin and the fasting proinsulin-to-insulin ratio, as markers of impaired proinsulin processing, in 597 nondiabetic Mexican-Americans from the San Antonio Heart Study. Fasting insulin, proinsulin, and the fasting proinsulin-to-insulin ratio were higher in subjects with a parental history of diabetes than in subjects without such a history. These differences remained statistically significant after adjustment for obesity, body fat distribution, and glucose tolerance. A parental history of diabetes in nondiabetic Mexican-Americans is associated with an increase in fasting specific insulin and a disproportionate increase in proinsulin relative to insulin. These data suggest that both increased insulin resistance and abnormal processing of proinsulin are present in offspring of parents with diabetes.
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Original Articles|
October 01 1995
Higher Proinsulin and Specific Insulin Are Both Associated With a Parental History of Diabetes in Nondiabetic Mexican-American Subjects
Steven M Haffner;
Steven M Haffner
Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
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Michael P Stern;
Michael P Stern
Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
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Heikki Miettinen;
Heikki Miettinen
Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
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Ronald Gingerich;
Ronald Gingerich
Linco Research
St. Louis, Missouri
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Ronald R Bowsher
Ronald R Bowsher
Lilly Laboratory for Clinical Research, Eli Lilly, and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine
Indianapolis, Indiana
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Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Steven M. Haffner, Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Dr., San Antonio, TX 78284–7873.
1
BMI, body mass index; IGT, impaired glucose tolerance; NGT, normal glucose tolerance; NIDDM, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; RIA, radioimmunoassay; WHR, waist-to-hip ratio.
Diabetes 1995;44(10):1156–1160
Article history
Received:
March 20 1995
Revision Received:
June 01 1995
Accepted:
June 01 1995
PubMed:
7556950
Citation
Steven M Haffner, Michael P Stern, Heikki Miettinen, Ronald Gingerich, Ronald R Bowsher; Higher Proinsulin and Specific Insulin Are Both Associated With a Parental History of Diabetes in Nondiabetic Mexican-American Subjects. Diabetes 1 October 1995; 44 (10): 1156–1160. https://doi.org/10.2337/diab.44.10.1156
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