Functional Assessment of Pancreatic β-Cell Area in Humans
Juris J. Meier 1 ,
Bjoern A. Menge 1 ,
Thomas G.K. Breuer 1 ,
Christophe A. Müller 2 ,
Andrea Tannapfel 3 ,
Waldemar Uhl 2 ,
Wolfgang E. Schmidt 1 and
Henning Schrader 1
1 Department of Medicine I, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany;
2 Department of Surgery, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany;
3 Department of Pathology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany.
Corresponding author: Juris J. Meier, juris.meier{at}ruhr-uni-bochum.de .
Abstract
OBJECTIVE β-Cell mass declines progressively during the course of diabetes, and various antidiabetic treatment regimens have been suggested
to modulate β-cell mass. However, imaging methods allowing the monitoring of changes in β-cell mass in vivo have not yet become
available. We address whether pancreatic β-cell area can be assessed by functional test of insulin secretion in humans.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 33 patients with chronic pancreatitis ( n = 17), benign pancreatic adenomas ( n = 13), and tumors of the ampulla of Vater ( n = 3) at various stages of glucose tolerance were examined with an oral glucose load before undergoing pancreatic surgery.
Indexes of insulin secretion were calculated and compared with the fractional β-cell area of the pancreas.
RESULTS β-Cell area was related to fasting glucose concentrations in an inverse linear fashion ( r = −0.53, P = 0.0014) and to 120-min postchallenge glycemia in an inverse exponential fashion ( r = −0.89). β-Cell area was best predicted by a C-peptide–to–glucose ratio determined 15 min after the glucose drink ( r = 0.72, P < 0.0001). However, a fasting C-peptide–to–glucose ratio already yielded a reasonably close correlation ( r = 0.63, P < 0.0001). Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) β-cell function was unrelated to β-cell area.
CONCLUSIONS Glucose control is closely related to pancreatic β-cell area in humans. A C-peptide–to–glucose ratio after oral glucose ingestion
appears to better predict β-cell area than fasting measures, such as the HOMA index.
Footnotes
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Received November 25, 2008.
Accepted March 5, 2009.
Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work
is not altered. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ for details.
© 2009 by the American Diabetes Association....

Functional Assessment of Pancreatic β-Cell Area in Humans

10.2337/db08-1611