General Uses and Considerations
The graded glucose infusion technique provides a sensitive assessment of insulin secretory capacity. In brief, serum insulin and C-peptide responses to a stepped incremental intravenous glucose infusion are measured. The graded glucose infusion technique generates insulin-glucose dose-response data over a range of plasma glucose concentrations that are relevant to normal physiology and the pathophysiology of states of glucose intolerance (impaired glucose tolerance; impaired fasting glucose) and type 2 diabetes. Paired studies permit changes in β-cell responsiveness to therapy, e.g. an incretin mimetic, to be quantified. The graded glucose infusion is suitable for studies in non-diabetic subjects, subjects with glucose intolerance, and subjects with type 2 diabetes.