Loss of the Incretin Effect in Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Context: Loss of the incretin effect (IE) in type 2 diabetes (T2D) contributes to hyperglycemia and the mechanisms underlying this impairment are unclear. Objective: To quantify the IE impairment in T2D and to investigate the factors associated with it using a meta-analytic approach. Methods: PubMed, Scopus, and Web-of-Science were searched. Studies measuring IE by the gold-standard protocol employing an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and an intravenous glucose infusion at matched glucose levels were selected. We extracted IE, sex, age, body mass index (BMI), and hemoglobin A1c, fasting values, and area under curve (AUC) of glucose, insulin, C-peptide, glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). In subjects with T2D, we also recorded T2D duration, age at diagnosis, and the percentage of subjects taking antidiabetic medications. Results: The IE weighted mean difference between subjects with T2D and those with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) was -27.3% (CI -36.5% to -18.1%; P