Association of insulin resistance and GLP-2 secretion in obesity: a pilot study

Objective: The objective of this pilot study was to determine whether glugagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2) secretion relates to insulin sensitivity (IS) in obese subjects. Subjects and methods: Twenty four obese subjects [ body mass index (BMI) 40.0 +/- 3.0 kg/m(2) (mean +/- standard deviation)] were included, nine of which were male, age 43 +/- 8 years. Twelve subjects had type 2 diabetes, all treated with oral anti-diabetic agents only. The subjects were submitted to standard meal tolerance test (MTT) for dosage of the curves: glucose, insulin, and GLP-2. Insulin sensitivity was measured by HOMA-IR, and OGIS was derived from the MTT. Spearman linear correlations and partial correlations were obtained. Results: There was an inverse relationship between the GLP-2 secretion and IS: HOMA-IR correlated with GLP-2 AUC (R = 0.504; p = 0.012), and OGIS correlated with GLP-2 incremental AUC (R = -0.54; p = 0.054). The correlation persisted after controlling for BMI. Conclusion: We found an association of GLP-2 secretion and insulin resistance (IR). The understanding of the underlying mechanisms may provide future directions in the pharmacological manipulation of incretins, and in the treatment of obesity and related metabolic disorders.