Interconnection Between Night Hyperglycemia and Fatty Liver in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Introduction Normal subjects have well-defined 24-hour cycles of insulin secretion and plasma insulin levels (rising in the early morning, peaking in the afternoon, and declining at night.

The dawn phenomenon is the result of an exaggeration of the physiologic impairment of insulin sensitivity was noted during the early morning hours. During previous studies, no exact explanation of this phenomenon was found. According to the studies, high growth hormone levels with decreased suppression by hyperglycemia, central hypersensitivity to growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), low insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), high insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1), and peripheral resistance to growth hormone are involved in the pathogenesis of Dawn syndrome. The etiology, prevalence, and consequences of hepatic steatosis in type 1 diabetes remain poorly understood.

Methods The study will include 120 consecutive patients with type 1 diabetes, using an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring device treated in our clinic. Investigators will extract the data related to glucose levels and pump programming. The data about glucose levels and insulin requirements during the night hours will be collected. The study participants will be divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of night hyperglycemia. We will perform liver elastography on 100 study patients.