Predisposition to Type 2 Diabetes in Aspects of the Glycemic Curve and Glycated Hemoglobin in Healthy, Young Adults: A Cross-sectional Study.

Objectives: Our aim in this study was to identify predictors for diabetes among the characteristics of the glycemic curve and glycated hemoglobin (A1C) in healthy, young adults.

Methods: We used a cross-sectional study to establish predictors for diabetes based on earlier studies and evaluated occurrence of the condition in 81 healthy, young adult subjects. These volunteers underwent analysis of fasting plasma glucose, oral glucose tolerance test plasma glucose, A1C, and inflammatory markers (leukocytes, monocytes, and C-reactive protein). The nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher's exact test, chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and multiple-comparisons test were used to analyze the data.

Results: We studied 2 age groups, homogeneous in terms of family history of diabetes: one group ranged in age from ≥18 to <28 years (median 20 years; body mass index [BMI] 24 kg/m) and the other group ranged in age from ≥28 to <45 years (median 35 years; BMI 24 kg/m). The older group had a higher incidence of predictors (p=0.0005) and was associated with the predictors 30-minute blood glucose ≥164 mg/dL (p=0.0190), 60-minute blood glucose ≥125 mg/dL (p=0.0346), and A1C ≥5.5% (p=0.0162), with a monophasic glycemic curve (p=0.007). The younger group was associated with the 2-hour plasma glucose predictor ≥140 mg/dL (p=0.014). All subjects had fasting glucose in the normal range.

Conclusions: Healthy, young adults may already have predictors of diabetes, identified mainly by aspects of the glycemic curve and A1C, but at more modest levels than those with prediabetes.