Plasma C-Peptide Levels and the Continuous Glucose Monitoring-Defined Coefficient of Variation in Risk Prediction for Hypoglycemia in Korean People with Diabetes Having Normal and Impaired Kidney Function.

BACKGRUOUND: We aimed to investigate the predictive values of plasma C-peptide levels and the continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)-defined coefficient of variation (CV) in risk prediction for hypoglycemia in Korean people with diabetes with normal and impaired kidney function.

METHODS

We analyzed data from 1,185 participants diagnosed with type 1 and type 2 diabetes who underwent blinded professional CGM between January 2009 and May 2021 at outpatient clinics. We explored correlations among CGM-defined CV, plasma C-peptide levels, and time below range at <70 and 54 mg/dL across different kidney function categories.

RESULTS

In patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 1-2 (n=934), 89.3% who had a random plasma C-peptide level higher than 600 pmol/L exhibited a CV of ≤36%. Among those in CKD stage 3 (n=161) with a random plasma C-peptide level exceeding 600 pmol/L, 66.7% showed a CV of ≤36%. In stages 4-5 of CKD (n=90), the correlation between random C-peptide levels and CV was not significant (r=-0.05, P=0.640), including cases with a CV greater than 36% despite very high random plasma C-peptide levels. Random plasma C-peptide levels and CGM-assessed CV significantly predicted hypoglycemia in CKD stages 1-2 and 1-5, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The established C-peptide criteria in Western populations are applicable to Korean people with diabetes for hypoglycemic risk prediction, unless kidney function is impaired equivalent to CKD stage 3-5. The CGM-defined CV is informative for hypoglycemic risk prediction regardless of kidney function.