ECE2006 Poster Presentations Diabetes, metabolism and cardiovascular (174 abstracts)
Absence of sexual dimorphism in the symptomatic responses to hypoglycaemia in adults with and without type 1 diabetes
J Geddes 1 , RE Warren 1 , AJ Sommerfield 1 , V McAulay 1 , MWJ Strachan 1 , KV Allen 1 , IJ Deary 2 & BM Frier 1
1The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; 2The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Objective: In humans insulin-induced hypoglycaemia activates the autonomic nervous system and provokes counterregulatory hormonal responses, the magnitude of which is lower in healthy non-diabetic females and in women with type 1 diabetes compared to male counterparts, although the glycaemic thresholds at which these responses are triggered are similar in both sexes. The Edinburgh Hypoglycaemia Score (a validated method of symptom assessment) was used to examine symptoms to ascertain whether hypoglycaemia symptomatic responses differ between the sexes.
Research design and Methods: Symptom score data from 8 hypoglycaemia studies (induced using the hyperinsulinaemic glucose clamp technique) were analysed in 160 subjects (age range 18–45 years). The subjects with type 1 diabetes (n=72, 31 female) all had diabetes for at least one year (median 6.9 years, range 1.1–30.9), with reasonable glycaemic control (mean HbA1c 7.9% S.D. 2.0) and normal awareness of hypoglycaemia. The results were compared with symptoms in healthy non-diabetic subjects (n=88, 45 females).
Results: Scores for the autonomic, neuroglycopenic and general malaise symptoms were all significantly higher during hypoglycaemia, compared to euglycaemia (P<0.0005). The non-diabetic subjects had higher autonomic symptom scores than those with type 1 diabetes, this difference being statistically significant (P=0.011, F=0.176). No differences were observed in the autonomic symptom scores between gender in either cohort (P=0.196, F=1.683). No statistical difference in neuroglycopenic symptom scores was found between the non-diabetic subjects and those with type 1 diabetes, nor was any effect of gender evident.
Conclusion: The sexual dimorphism that is recognised to affect counterregulatory hormonal responses to hypoglycaemia and is manifested by physiological differences, was not apparent with respect to symptomatic responses, suggesting that the symptoms of hypoglycaemia do not differ between men and women.
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Endocrine Abstracts
ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)
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