Are there genetic determinants for the glucose intolerance of acromegaly?

A genetic marker identifying the two parental insulin genes has been studied in 51 Caucasian acromegalics by Southern blot hybridization techniques using a cloned insulin gene probe. Two main DNA insertion classes were detected corresponding to the class 1 and class 3 alleles and thus the following genotypes were found: 1/1, 1/3 and 3/3. The acromegalics were subdivided depending on whether they had a normal (n = 30) or abnormal (n = 21) response to a 50 gm oral glucose tolerance test before treatment. The phenotype frequencies in the former group were 1/1, 43%; 1/3, 53%; and 3/3, 4%; and in the latter group the corresponding figures were 76%, 24% and 0%. The relative incidence of concordance of the phenotype 1/1 with abnormal glucose tolerance in acromegaly was 4.2. This phenotype is also associated with insulin dependent (Type 1) diabetes mellitus.