SERUM GHRELIN, INSULIN AND GLUCOSE LEVELS ARE CORRELATED IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS

Background. The research evidence have suggested that ghrelin, a neuropeptide containing 28 amino acids, plays an important role in glucose homeostasis and its concentration is increased in diabetes. Objective. To investigate the relationship between the serum levels of ghrelin, insulin, fasting glucose and glycated hemoglobin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Materials and Methods. Fasting glucose, insulin, ghrelin and glycated hemoglobin were measured after a 12-14 hours overnight fasting in 48 adult males with type 2 diabetics. Pearson correlations were used to establish the relationship between ghrelin concentration and other variables. P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results. There were no correlations between serum gill-din and Systolic and diastole blood pressure and body mass index (p<0.05). Serum ghrelin is weakly associated with glycated hemoglobin (p=0.076, R=0.19). Serum ghrelin concentrations were positively correlated with fasting glucose (p=0.005, R=0.40). In addition, ghrelin correlated negatively with serum insulin (p=0.013, r=-0.36). Conclusion. Our data demonstrate that high ghrelin concentration is accompanied with increase in blood glucose in type 2 diabetic patients, and support this hypothesis that this neuropeptide plays a pathophysiological role in this disease.