Early beta-cell dysfunction characterizes males with type 2 diabetes of Yemenite origin

The aim of the current study was to characterize β-cell function, insulin sensitivity and line of inheritance in patients with recent-onset type 2 diabetes of Yemenite and non-Yemenite Jewish origin.

A cohort study including 121 GAD negative diabetic patients, 59 of Yemenite and 62 of non-Yemenite origin, treated by diet ± oral antihyperglycemic monotherapy who underwent 180-min meal tolerance test (MMT). Based on MMT, indexes of insulin resistance and secretion were calculated.

There were no significant differences in age, sex, diabetes duration, BMI, HbA1c and lipid profile. A significant difference was found in family history of diabetes: 63 % of patients of Yemenite origin had maternal inheritance versus 35 % in the non-Yemenite origin (p < 0.001). Both indexes of β-cell function, the insulinogenic and the disposition indexes were significantly lower in patients of Yemenite origin compared with non-Yemenite origin (0.66 ± 0.4 vs. 0.93 ± 0.8, p = 0.04; 2.3 ± 1.8 vs. 3.3 ± 3.3, p = 0.04, respectively) with no difference in insulin sensitivity. When females and males were analyzed separately, the difference in maternal inheritance remained significant in both, but the difference in β-cell function indexes was observed only in males (p = 0.03, p = 0.01, respectively).

Males with recent-onset diabetes of Yemenite origin have a significant reduction of β-cell function and reduced ability to compensate for insulin resistance compared with diabetic males of non-Yemenite origin. Both males and females of Yemenite origin have a significantly higher maternal inheritance of diabetes. These data suggest different underlying mechanisms leading to early loss of β-cell in diabetic males of Yemenite origin.