Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Extracellular Glucose Depletion as an Indirect Measure of Glucose Uptake in Cells and Tissues Ex Vivo
Published on: April 6, 2022
Selective amino acid deficiency in patients with impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes
Bjoern A Menge1, Henning Schrader, Peter R Ritter
1Department of Medicine I, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44791 Bochum, Germany.
Introduction:
Amino acids are important modulators of glucose metabolism, insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity. However, little is known about the changes in amino acid metabolism in patients with diabetes.
Patients And Methods:
The circulating amino acid levels were determined in 17 patients with type 2 diabetes, 17 individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and 14 control subjects.
Results:
Total amino acid concentrations were 2850+/-57micromol/l in patients with type 2 diabetes, 2980+/-77micromol/l in individuals with IGT, and 2886+/-74micromol/l in control subjects (p=0.38). Patients with type 2 diabetes exhibited significant reductions in the concentrations of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), arginine, glutamine and phosphoethanolamine (p<0.05), whereas valine levels were higher than in controls (p=0.008). In IGT subjects, GABA levels were reduced, while tyrosine concentrations were increased (p<0.05). The plasma levels of essential amino acids were positively related to fasting and post-challenge glucose levels, fasting C-peptide, HOMA insulin resistance and fasting glucagon levels (p<0.05).
Conclusions:
Total amino acid levels are similar in patients with diabetes, IGT subjects and controls, but the individual levels of several amino acids differ significantly between these groups. These alterations may contribute to the disturbances in insulin secretion and action in diabetic patients and may provide a rationale for offering specific amino acid supplementations to diabetic patients.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Glucose Transporters
Facilitated diffusion-glucose transporters (GLUTs) are encoded by the solute-linked carrier (SLC) family 2, subfamily A gene family, or SLC2A. The 14 GLUT protein members are distributed into three classes:
Type I Diabetes III: Clinical Manifestations
Type II Diabetes II: Pathophysiology
Type II Diabetes Mellitus III: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnosis
Diabetes Mellitus: Type 2 and Gestational
Diabetes Mellitus: Overview and Type I Subtype
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. As a result, the body is unable to produce sufficient insulin, and individuals with...

