Effects of Norwegian and Pakistani meal interventions on bloodglucose and adipokines in patients with type 2 diabetes from Norway and Pakistan

Abstract

Prior studies have demonstrated that Asian Indians have a higher predisposition to develop diabetes than ethnic Europeans and white Americans, and that they are more prone to develop insulin resistance at a lower BMI than ethnic Europeans and white Americans. We have participated in an ongoing comparison study of young ethnic Pakistanis and young ethnic Norwegians with type 2 diabetes at Aker University Hospital, Oslo. Through basic anthropometric measures, a two step hyperinsulinemic euglycemic glucose clamp and two different meal interventions, a typical Pakistani lunch and a typical Norwegian lunch, we have compared data from 15 Norwegians and 14 Pakistanis with type 2 diabetes. The focus of our study has been to compare data on glucose, insulin, and adipokines from meal interventions between the two groups. The results from our study indicate that the Pakistani group have a higher degree of insulin resistance, and that their type 2 diabetes is more poorly regulated than the Norwegian group. We have also seen that for the Pakistani group, BMI is a poor marker for insulin resistance. The Pakistani and Norwegian meal interventions revealed no significant differences in the Pakistani or the Norwegian group independently.