[A case of hyperinsulinemia due to hypersecretion of incretin]

A 65-year-old male presented with postprandial hypoglycemic episodes. He had normal glucose tolerance, but plasma glucose reached a hypoglycemic level of 31 mg/dl at 120 min during 75 g oral glucose tolerance test. He had markedly increased insulin response to oral glucose but not to intravenous glucose, intravenous arginine or intravenous glucagon. Hyperresponse of insulin after oral but not intravenous glucose suggested the possible involvement of insulinotropic hormonal factor in the gut (incretin) in hyperinsulinemia of this patient. Therefore we evaluated the secretory response of glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a most likely candidate for incretin, to oral and intravenous glucose administration. Plasma GLP-1 response to oral glucose was almost five times greater than that of normal subjects. On the other hand, there was no significant response in plasma GLP-1 after intravenous glucose. These results suggest that hypersecretion of GLP-1 may be responsible for the hyperinsulinemia after oral glucose in this patient.