Capillary blood glucose TIR tied to insulin resistance, β-cell function

Insulin resistance (IR) and β-cell function, as determined by the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA), appear to be important correlates of time in range (TIR) evaluated using the capillary blood glucose (CBG), a recent study has found.

Researchers enrolled 455 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, from whom seven-point glucose-profile data were collected over three consecutive days. At the same time, plasma glucose and serum insulin levels were measured at 0, 60, and 120 minutes after standard 100-g meal test using steamed bread. The target range was set at 3.9–10.0 mmol/L.

Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed that TIR was significantly and positively correlated with HOMA-β (r, 0.341; p<0.05), but inversely so with HOMA-IR (r, –0.239; p<0.001).

Patients were then divided into standard and substandard groups, following international guidelines for TIR to optimally be >70 percent for the type 2 diabetes population.

Multinomial logistic regression analysis found that each 10-unit increase in HOMA-β likewise increased the odds of TIR achieving the recommended value by 10 percent (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 5–16; p<0.05). In contrast, each unit increase in HOMA-IR reduced such odds by 10 percent (95 percent CI, 1–18).

“Our findings suggest that improved insulin resistance and pancreatic β-cell function are potential therapeutic targets for controlling glycaemic fluctuations to prevent chronic type 2 diabetes mellitus complications,” the researchers said.