Fasting Plasma Total Amino Acid Levels in Relation to Glucose Levels in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus – A Study from Karnataka, India

Abstract

BACKGROUND Hyperglycemia, observed in type 2 diabetus mellites (T2DM) patients, is the primary root cause for the development of life threatening - diabetes induced micro- & macrovascular complications. Generally, in fasting state, gluconeogenesis accounts for about 30 % of overall hepatic glucose output and the increase in type 2 diabetic subjects may be much more than this level. The majority of gluconeogenic precursors may originate from muscle glycolysis and in the form of glucogenic amino acids including alanine. We wanted to assess fasting plasma total amino acid levels in T2DM patients and correlate the levels with the glycaemic status of T2DM patients in this study. METHODS The observational comparative study was undertaken at Research and Development department, from October 2019 to November 2020 and it consisted of 157 subjects, including 75 normal control subjects, and 82 T2DM patients. The T2 diabetic patients attending medical OPD of Subbaiah Institute of Medical Sciences, Purle, Shivamogga (SUIMS) were randomly selected and were sub-grouped in to 3 groups depending on their fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels. The group 1 patients were having FPG level in the range of 150 – 200 mg / dl, group 2 patients having in the range of 201 - 250 mg / dl and the group 3 patients were having FPG above 251 mg / dl. RESULTS It is evident from the present study that FPG levels as well as AAN levels are significantly (P > 0.001) elevated in T2DM patients as compared to normal control subjects and there is a proportional rise in AAN levels in relation to FPG Levels in T2dm patients. CONCLUSIONS The rise in plasma AN levels is proportional to glycemic status in T2DM patients and can be employed to assess the glycemic status in these patients. KEY WORDS Amino Acids, Gluconeogenesis, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus