Abstract
Plasma C-peptide was determined in 46 inpatients with diabetes mellitus in order to evaluate the pancreatic B-cell function under insulin treatment. These patients were classified into three groups on the basis of fasting blood glucose: mild (n=7), moderate (n=13) and severe diabetes group (n=26), of which fasting blood glucose was below 119mg/100ml, from 120 to 199mg/100ml and above 200mg/100ml, respectively. In mild and moderate diabetes groups, the plasma C-peptide during GTT increased with a rise of plasma insulin 5 weeks after the start of insulin treatment. This result suggests that the insulin treatment may improve the pancreatic B-cell function. The insulin antibody was formed in 7 of 45 patients who had no antibody before the insulin treatment. Six of the seven patients having antibody belonged to the severe diabetes group. Any correlation was not demonstrated between increments of C-peptide at 60 min during GTT 5 weeks after the insulin treatment and insulin doses. The determination of plasma C-peptide gave us an information to evaluate the pancreatic B-cell function. However, we failed to obtain a conclusion that the determination of plasma C-peptide was useful as a guideline for the selection of treatment in diabetic patients.
