Categories: Endocrinology

C peptide and Diabetes

  • The connecting peptide, or C-peptide, is a short 31-amino-acid protein that connects insulin’s A-chain to its B-chain in the proinsulin molecule
  • Patients with diabetes may have their C-peptide levels measured as a means of distinguishing type 1 diabetes from type 2 diabetes
  • Measuring C-peptide can help to determine how much of their own natural insulin a person is producing as C-peptide is secreted in equimolar amounts to insulin.
  • C peptide also has a half-life three to four times that of insulin
  • Liver metabolizes a large and variable amount of insulin secreted into the portal vein but does not metabolize C-peptide
  • A very low C-peptide confirms Type 1 diabetes and insulin dependence

REFERENCES

  1. Chapter 18: Disorders of the Endocrine Pancreas. Pathophysiology of Disease: An Introduction to Clinical Medicine, 7e. Janet L. Funk, MD
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Dr. C Humphreys

Internal Medicine

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