Acute insulin responses to glucose and arginine as predictors of beta-cell secretory capacity in human islet transplantation

Islet transplantation for type 1 diabetes can enable the achievement of near-normal glycemic control without severe hypoglycemic episodes. How much an islet (beta-cell) graft may be contributing to glycemic control can be quantified by stimulatory tests of insulin (or C-peptide) secretion. Glucose-potentiation of arginine-induced insulin secretion provides a measure of functional beta-cell mass, the beta-cell secretory capacity, as either AIR(pot) or AIR(max), but requires conduct of a hyperglycemic clamp. We sought to determine whether acute insulin responses to intravenous glucose (AIR(glu)) or arginine (AIR(arg)) could predict beta-cell secretory capacity in islet recipients. AIR(arg) was a better predictor of both AIR(pot) and AIR(max) (n=10, r2=0.98, P<0.0001 and n=7, r2=0.97, P<0.0001) than was AIR(glu) (n=9, r2=0.78, P=0.002 and n=6, r2=0.76, P=0.02). Also, the measures of beta-cell secretory capacity were highly correlated (n=7, r2=0.98, P<0.0001). These results support the use of AIR(arg) as a surrogate indicator of beta-cell secretory capacity in islet transplantation.