Annual decline in β-cell function in patients with type 2 diabetes in China

The aim of this study was to investigate the annual decline of β-cell function correlated with disease duration in patients with type 2 diabetes in China.

This cross-sectional study included 4792 adults with type 2 diabetes who were recruited from four university hospital diabetes clinics between April 2018 and November 2018. Baseline data were collected from electric medical records. Participants were divided into 21 groups with 1-year diabetes duration interval to assess the decline rate of β-cell function. Homeostatic model assessment model (HOMA 2) model was applied to assess β-cell function. Multiple linear regression model was used to evaluate the association between biochemical and clinical variables and β-cell function.

In Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes, β-cell function declined by 2% annually. Using angiotensin receptor blockade (ARB) (β = .048; P = .011), metformin (β = .138; P = .021), or insulin (β = .142; P = .018) was associated with increased β-cell function. However, increased BMI (β = -.215; P = .022), alcohol consumption (β = -.331; P < .001), haemoglobin A1c (β = -.104; P = .027), or increased diabetes duration (β = -.183; P = .003) was significantly and negatively associated with β-cell function.

We determined that the annual rate of the β-cell function decline was 2% in patients with type 2 diabetes in China. Moreover, we confirmed a positive relationship between ARB treatment and β-cell function, while BMI and alcohol consumption were significantly and negatively associated with the β-cell function.