Introduction: Acromegaly is characterized by excessive secretion of growth hormone (GH). The incidence rate of acromegaly is 40 to 70 persons per one million people. Carbohydrate disorders often accompany the above pathology. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of high levels of somatotropin on aberrations in glycaemia in patients with acromegaly, and then a 5-year observation.
Material and methods: The study group consisted of 86 patients (48 females and 38 males) with acromegaly diagnosed on the basis of clinical features, elevated insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels, and/or no inhibition of GH ≤ 1 ug/L secretion during 2 hours after an oral glucose load.
Results: In the study group type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was diagnosed in 21 patients (24.4%). There were also 14 cases (16.3%) of the diagnosis of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) combined. The mean age of participants with concomitant T2DM was 52.1 years, while the mean age of those without carbohydrate metabolism disturbances was 46.1 years. During a 5-year observation, we noticed an increase level of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and new cases of pre-diabetes and T2DM.
Conclusion: In patients with acromegaly the incidence rate of T2DM is 3-4 times higher than in the rest of the population, and it increases with age, especially after the patient reaches 55 years old.
Keywords: IGF-1; IGT; T2DM; acromegaly.