Recovery from decompensated non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: studies of C-peptide secretion

Eleven non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients presented with decompensated hyperglycemia. Nine had pronounced ketonuria, five with acidosis. In seven cases, precipitating factors were identified. In the other four cases, including three cases of diabetic ketoacidosis, no identifiable triggering events were present. In each case, recovery from the initially decompensated diabetic state occurred. Eventually, all patients were managed by diet alone. Seven patients demonstrated nondiabetic glucose tolerance tests (GTT). Several patients underwent stressful situations after "recovery" without recurrence of hyperglycemia. Glucose-stimulated C-peptide levels were determined postrecovery. C-peptide secretion was in the normal range and, in fact, was identical, in relation to glucose levels, to that in a group of nondiabetic volunteers. In 6 of the 11 cases, C-peptide secretion was measured at the time of initial presentation. These levels were markedly lower than comparable values during the GTT postrecovery. Non-insulin-dependent diabetes, even when presenting in a decompensated state, is subject to a considerable degree of reversibility and even recovery to a nondiabetic state in some cases. Recovery is associated with a return to normal C-peptide secretion.