Assay of C-peptide in diabetes in children and adolescents
Jos, J.; Kestenbaum, S.
Annales de Medecine Interne 135(6): 416-419
1984
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-410X PMID: 6391322 Document Number: 241698
Thirty eight children and adolescents aged 3 to 19 years with insulin-dependent diabetes had basal plasma C-peptide levels 50 to 70 p. 100 lower than comparable non-diabetic subjects. An appreciable residual fasting endogenic secretion greater than 1 ng/ml was found in half the patients during the first two years after the onset of diabetes. After this period, the concentrations were almost always lower than 1 ng/ml and in half the cases, at the lower limit of detection. In addition, it was difficult to stimulate C-peptide secretion by food or drugs. The effects of variations in blood glucose were made allowance for by using molar C-peptide/glucose ratio. This gives a better evaluation of the inverse relationship between residual pancreatic function and the duration of the diabetes and of the degree of residual beta-langerhans secretion to help obtain stable metabolic equilibrium.