Abstract
Aims
The addition of the 1‐h plasma glucose concentration measure from an oral glucose tolerance test to prediction models of future Type 2 diabetes has shown to significantly strengthen their predictive power. The present study examined the relationship between severity of depressive symptoms and hyperglycaemia, focusing on the 1‐h glucose concentration vs. fasting and 2‐h glucose measures from the oral glucose tolerance test.
Methods
Participants included 140 adults with the metabolic syndrome and without diabetes who completed a baseline psychobiological assessment and a 2‐h oral glucose tolerance test, with measurements taken every 30 min. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory.
Results
Multivariate linear regression revealed that higher levels of depressive symptoms were associated with higher levels of 1‐h plasma glucose concentrations after adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, BMI, antidepressant use and high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein. Results were maintained after controlling for fasting glucose as well as for indices of insulin resistance and secretion. Neither fasting nor 2‐h plasma glucose concentrations were significantly associated with depressive symptoms.
Conclusions
Elevated depressive symptoms in persons with the metabolic syndrome were associated with greater glycaemic excursion 1‐h following a glucose load that was not accounted for by differences in insulin secretory function or insulin sensitivity. Consistent with previous findings, this study highlights the value of the 1‐h plasma glucose measurement from the oral glucose tolerance test in the relation between depressive symptoms and glucose metabolism as an indicator of metabolic abnormalities not visible when focusing on fasting and 2‐h post‐oral glucose tolerance test measurements alone.
What's new?
Findings highlight the value of examining the 1‐h plasma glucose concentration from an oral glucose tolerance test in addition to fasting and 2‐h assessments when investigating the link between depression and hyperglycaemia.
This study further expands previous findings highlighting the 1‐h plasma glucose concentration from an oral glucose tolerance test as an indicator of metabolic abnormalities in the pre‐diabetes stage and shows a link between 1‐h plasma glucose and depressive symptomatology.
Results suggest that the metabolic syndrome may be a facilitative context to study the mechanisms that link depression and Type 2 diabetes.
