Neurotensin in diabetes and obesity

Basal and postprandial concentrations of immunoreactive neurotensin were measured in insulin dependent diabetic patients and lean and obese noninsulin dependent diabetic patients when partially withdrawn from subcutaneous (s.c.) insulin treatment and again when near normoglycemia had been achieved from insulin infusion by an artificial endocrine pancreas (AEP). Neither basal nor postprandial neurotensin differed among the 3 groups of diabetic patients during s.c. insulin treatment nor from weight matched nondiabetic subjects. In addition, AEP resulted in no significant change in postprandial neurotensin responses. No differences in neurotensin levels were observed between lean and obese nondiabetic subjects. In contrast to observations in experimental diabetes, these observations do not support the presence of an abnormality of neurotensin in human diabetes.