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Age and glucose tolerance in healthy subjects

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Abstract

An important and still controversial issue is the role played by the aging process itself in the metabolic alterations observed in aged people. We previously reported that a group of normal elderly people exhibited glucose disposal comparable to that of young controls. In the present study we investigated the effect ofage on beta-cell secretion, by analyzing C-peptide measurements. Ten elderly men (E, 70 ± 2 years) with normal oral glucose test and ten young subjects (Y, 27 ± 1 years) with matching ideal body weight formed the study group. They were studied under highly dynamic conditions by means of a 0.3 g/kg i. v. glucose tolerance test. Fasting glucose and insulin were not different in the two groups (Y: 87 + 2 mg/dl, E: 88 ± 3, p >0.1; Y: 50 ± 7 pM, E: 36 ± 7, p >0.05). Glucoseinsulin data set was analyzed by means of the minimal model of glucose disappearance which provided two parameters for every individual, yielding a quantitative description of glucose utilization: i.e., SI the index of insulin sensitivity, and SG, the fractional glucose disappearance at basal insulin (glucose effectiveness). Both parameters were unaltered by age (SI = Y: 6.30 ± 0.41 lO-4min-1/(μU/ml), E: 7.11 ± 0.72, p > 0.1; SG = Y: 0.020 ± 0.003 min-1, E: 0.019 ± 0.002, p > 0.1). C-peptide time course in elderly people was systematically lower than in the control group (basal levels: Y: 252 ± 36 pM, E: 129 ± 17, p < 0.005). C-peptide data were analyzed by means of a mathematical model of C-peptide kinetics, which provides a quantitative estimation of the beta-cell activity, and of the C-peptide fractional clearance rate, k01. No differences were found in k01 (Y: 0.080 ± 0.006 min-1 vs E: 0.089 ± 0.014, p > 0.1), thus the changes in peripheral C-peptide concentration with age are likely to be due only to an altered beta-cell secretion. In particular, the total amount of secreted insulin during 240 minutes was reduced by ∼44% (Y: 7.7 ± 1.1 103 pM vs E: 4.3 ± 0.5, p < 0.01). This study indicated that healthy elderly subjects maintain a glucose disposal comparable to that of young controls. Nevertheless, when C-peptide patterns are analyzed, beta-cell activity appears altered with age. (Aging 2: 277-282,1990)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geriatric Hospital, Padova, Italy

    F. Beccaro

  2. CNR Institute of Systems Dynamics and Bioengineering (LADSEB-CNR), Corso Stati Uniti 4, 35020, Padova, Italy

    Giovanni Pacini

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

    A. Valerio, R. Nosadini & G. Crepaldi

Authors
  1. F. Beccaro
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  2. Giovanni Pacini
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  3. A. Valerio
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  4. R. Nosadini
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  5. G. Crepaldi
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Additional information

Part of this work has been presented in the poster session of the 5th European Symposium on Metabolism, held in Padova, Italy, in May 1989.

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Beccaro, F., Pacini, G., Valerio, A. et al. Age and glucose tolerance in healthy subjects. Aging Clin Exp Res 2, 277–282 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03323933

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