Gastrointestinal Function in Diabetes (I)

“During the last 15–20 years, primarily as a result of the application of novel investigative techniques, there has been a rapid expansion of knowledge relating to the function of the gastrointestinal tract in diabetes mellitus. These insights have been substantial and have led to the recognition that gastrointestinal function represents a hitherto inappropriately neglected, as well as important, aspect of diabetes management. In particular, disordered gastrointestinal motor and sensory function occur frequently in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes and may be associated with significant clinical sequelae. Recent epidemiological studies have established that there is a high prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms in the diabetic population and that these are associated with impaired quality of life. Furthermore, upper gastrointestinal motility, even when normal, is central to the regulation of postprandial blood glucose concentrations. Hence, diabetes and the gastrointestinal tract are inextricably linked. […] This book, which to our knowledge represents the first of its kind, was stimulated by the need to consolidate these advances, to illuminate an area that is perceived as increasingly important, but somewhat difficult to understand. […] The book aims to be comprehensive and to present the relevant information in context for both the clinician and clinical researcher. There are nine chapters: five are organ-specific, relating to oesophageal, gastric, intestinal, anorectal and hepatobiliary function; the four other chapters address epidemiological aspects of gastrointestinal function in diabetes, the effects of diabetes mellitus on gastrointestinal function in animal models, the impact of gastrointestinal function on glycaemic control, and the evaluation of gastrointestinal autonomic function. All of the authors are recognised internationally for their expertise in the field”.

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I added this book to my list of favourite books on goodreads – it’s a great book, from which I learned a lot.

I have added some more quotes and observations from the book below, as well as a few comments.

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“Population-based studies of gastrointestinal symptoms in diabetic patients have been relatively few and the results conflicting […] To date, a total of nine population-based studies have been undertaken evaluating gastrointestinal symptoms in subjects with diabetes mellitus […] Depending on the population studied, the prevalence of symptoms has varied considerably in patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. […] there is evidence that gastrointestinal symptoms are linked with diabetes mellitus, but the prevalence over and above the general population is at most only modestly increased. Some studies have failed to detect an association between diabetes and gastrointestinal symptoms, but several confounders may have obscured the findings. For example, it is well documented that chronic gastrointestinal symptoms are common in non-diabetics in the community, presumably due to functional gastrointestinal disorders such as the irritable bowel syndrome [33,34]. Moreover, the presence of diabetic complications and possibly long-term glycaemic control appear to be important factors in symptom onset [31,32]. This may explain the difficulty in establishing a firm link between diabetes and chronic gastrointestinal complaints in population-based studies.”

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It is perhaps important to interpose already at this early stage of the coverage that diabetes seems to be related to many changes in gastrointestinal function that do not necessarily cause symptoms which lead to patient complaints, but which even so may still affect individuals with the disease in a variety of ways. For example drug metabolism may be altered in diabetics secondary to hyperglycemia-induced delayed gastric emptying, which can naturally be very important in some situations (drugs don’t work, or don’t work when they’re supposed to). Symptomatic disease is important to observe and address, but there are many other aspects that may be relevant as well. The symptomatology of diabetes-related gastrointestinal changes is of course complicated by the fact that nervous system involvement is an important player, and a player we know from other contexts may both generate symptoms (in this setting you’d e.g. think of altered peristalsis in severe neuropathy, causing constipation) and may also lead to an absence of symptoms in settings where symptoms would otherwise have been present (‘silent ischemia‘ is common in diabetics). I may or may not go much more into these topics, there’s a lot of interesting stuff in this book.

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“In patients with long-standing type 1 and type 2 diabetes, the prevalence of delayed gastric emptying of a nutrient meal is reported to range from 27% to 40% [40–42] and the prevalence is similar in insulin-dependent and non-insulindependent diabetes mellitus […]. In a minority of patients (less than 10%) with long-standing diabetes, gastric emptying is accelerated [42–44]. […] A number of studies have shown that acute changes in blood glucose concentrations can have a profound effect on motor function throughout the gastrointestinal tract in both normal subjects and patients with diabetes mellitus [54]. Recent studies have demonstrated that the blood glucose concentration may also modulate the perception of sensations arising from the gastrointestinal tract [56–58]. However, there is relatively little information about the mechanisms mediating the effects of the blood glucose concentration on gastrointestinal motility. While some studies have implicated impaired glycaemic control in the genesis of chronic gastrointestinal symptoms [24,31], this remains controversial.”

“As part of the Medical Outcomes Study, that determined the impact of nine different chronic illnesses upon HRQL [Health-Related Quality of Life, US], Stewart et al. [90] used the Short Form (SF-20) of the General Health Survey to evaluate HRQL ratings in 9385 patients, 844 of whom had diabetes […] gastrointestinal disorders had a more negative impact on HRQL than all other conditions with the exception of heart disease [90]. Others have reported similar findings [120,121]. […] A study of diabetic patients undergoing transplantation [122] indicated that, of all the factors likely to compromise HRQL, the single most important one was gastrointestinal dysfunction.”

“In animal studies of gastrointestinal function in diabetes mellitus, most information has been generated using insulinopenic rats with severe hyperglycaemia; around one-third of the literature has been generated using BB rats (autoimmune spontaneous diabetic) and two-thirds using streptozotocin (STZ; chemically-induced) diabetic models. In the choice of these animal models, an assumption appears to have been often made that hyperglycaemia per se, or at least some aspect of the metabolic disturbance secondary to insulin lack, is the aetiopathologic insult. A common hypothesis is that neurotoxicity of the autonomic nervous system, secondary to this metabolic insult, is responsible for the gastrointestinal effects of diabetes. This hypothesis is described here as the ‘autonomic neuropathic’ hypothesis.”

“Central nervous structures, especially those in the brain stem […] are implicated in the normal autonomic control of gastrointestinal function […] over two-thirds of the literature regarding gastrointestinal dysfunction in diabetes is derived from chemically-induced models in which, alarmingly, much of the reported gut dysfunction could be an artifact of selective damage to central structures. It is now recognised that there are major differences in gastrointestinal function between animals in which β-cell damage was caused by chemical means and those in which damage was a result of an autoimmune process. These differences prompt an examination of the extent to which gastrointestinal dysfunction in some models is a consequence of diabetes per se, perhaps applicable to human disease, as opposed to being a consequence of damage to specific central structures.”

“The […] most accepted hypothesis in the past to explain gastrointestinal dysfunction in diabetes has been the proposal that autonomic neuropathy has disturbed the normal regulation of gut function. But there are recently identified disturbances in several of the neurohormones found in gut in different diabetic states. Several of these, including amylin, GLP-1 and PYY have effects on gut function, and should now be considered in explanations of diabetes-associated changes in gut function. […] A ‘neurocrine’ alternative to the neuropathic hypothesis focuses on the possibility that absolute or relative deficiency of the pancreatic β-cell hormone, amylin, may be of importance in the aetiology of disordered gastrointestinal function in diabetes. […] STZ diabetic rats most often show increased gastric acid secretion [63,64] and increased rates of ulceration [65–71]. This effect is exacerbated by fasting [67] and is reversed by hyperglycaemia [72] but not by insulin replacement [73]. It thus appears that insulin lack is not the ulcerogenic stimulus, and raises the possibility that absence of gastric-inhibitory factors (e.g. amylin, PYY, GLP-1), which may be absent or reduced in diabetes, could be implicated. […] autoimmune type 1 diabetic BB rats [76] and autoimmune non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice [77] in which the gastric mucosa is not an immune target, also show a marked increase in gastric erosions. The constancy of findings of acid hypersecretion and ulceration in insulinopenic diabetes invoked by diverse insults (chemical and autoimmune) indicates that this gastrointestinal disturbance is a direct consequence of the diabetes, and perhaps of β-cell deficiency. […] Amylin […] is a potent inhibitor of gastric acid secretion [88], independent of changes in plasma glucose [89] and prevents gastric erosion in response to a number of irritants [90–92]. These effects appear to be specific to amylin […] It is possible that amylin deficiency could be implicated in a propensity to ulceration in some forms of diabetes. It is unclear whether such a propensity exists in type 1 diabetic adults. However, type 1 diabetic children are reported to have a three- to four-fold elevation in rate of peptic disease [93].”

“Changes in intestinal mucosal function are observed in diabetic rodents, but it is unclear whether these are intrinsic and contributory to the disease process, or are secondary to the disease. […] It […] appears likely […] that diabetes-associated changes in gut enzyme expression represent a response to some aspect of the diabetic state, since they occur in both chemically-induced and genetic models, and are reversible with vigorous treatment of the diabetes. […] While there appear to be no reports that quantify the relationship between acid secretion and rates of nutrient assimilation, there is evidence that type 1 diabetes, in animal models at least, is characterised by disturbed acid regulation.”

“[D]isordered gastrointestinal motility has long been recognised as a frequent feature in diabetic patients who also exhibit neuropathy [125]. Disturbances in gastrointestinal function have been estimated by some to have a prevalence of ∼ 30% (range 5–60% [126–128]). Both peripheral and autonomic [126–128] neuropathy are frequent complications of diabetes mellitus. Since the autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays a prominent role in the regulation of gut motility, a prevailing hypothesis has been that autonomic neuropathic dysfunction could account for much of this disturbance. […] Motor disturbances associated with autonomic neuropathy include dilation of the oesophagus, gastrointestinal stasis, accumulation of digesta and constipation, mainly signs associated with vagal (parasympathetic) dysfunction. There are also reports of faecal incontinence, related to decreased sphincter pressure, and diarrhoea.”

“The best-characterised signs of damage to the autonomic nervous system during diabetes are morphological […] For example, the number of myelinated axons in the vagosympathetic trunk is decreased in diabetic rats [131], as is the number of neurones in dorsal root ganglia and peripheral postganglionic sympathetic nerves. […] In addition to alterations in numbers and morphology of axons, the tissue around the axons is also often disturbed. […] It is of interest that autonomic neuropathy can be prevented or partially reversed by rigorous glycaemic control [137], suggesting that hyperglycaemia per se is of major aetiological importance in autonomic neuropathy. […] Morphological evidence of neuropathy in BB rats includes axonal degeneration, irregularity of myelin sheaths and Mullerian degeneration […] It has been proposed that periodic hypoglycaemia in BB rats may induce Wallerian degeneration and reduced conduction velocity […] while abnormalities associated with chronic hyperglycaemia include sensory (afferent) axonopathy […] The secretion of a number of neuroendocrine substances may be decreased in diabetes. Glucagon, pancreatic polypeptide, gastrin, somatostatin and gastric inhibitory peptide levels are reportedly reduced in the gastrointestinal tract of diabetic patients […] In addition to peripheral autonomic neuropathy, neurons within the central nervous system are also reported to be damaged in animal models of diabetes, including areas […] which are important in controlling those parts of the autonomic nervous system that innervate the gut.”

“Despite ample evidence of morphologic and functional changes in nerves of rodent models of type 1 diabetes mellitus, it is not clear to what extent these changes underly the gastrointestinal dysfunction evident in these animals. Coincidence of neuropathic and gastrointestinal changes does not necessarily prove a causal association between autonomic neuropathy and gastrointestinal dysfunction in diabetes. […] recently recognised neuroendocrine disturbances in diabetes, especially of the β-cell hormone amylin, provide an alternative to the neuropathic hypothesis […] In considering primary endocrine changes associated with type 1 diabetes mellitus, it should be recognised that the central pathogenic event is a selective and near-absolute autoimmune destruction of pancreatic β-cells. Other cell types in the islets, and other tissues, are preserved. The only confirmed hormones currently known to be specific to pancreatic β-cells are insulin and amylin [251]. Recent evidence also suggests that C-peptide, cleaved from proinsulin during intracellular processing and co-secreted with insulin, may also be biologically active [252] […] It is therefore only insulin, C-peptide and amylin that disappear following the selective destruction of β-cells. The implications of this statement are profound; all diabetes-associated sequelae are somehow related to the absence of these (and/or other possibly undiscovered) hormones, whether directly or indirectly […]. Since insulin has minimal direct effect on gut function, until recently the most plausible explanation linking β-cell destruction to changes in gastrointestinal functions was a neuropathic effect secondary to hyperglycaemia. With the recent discovery of multiple physiological gastrointestinal effects of the second β-cell hormone, amylin [255], a plausible alternate explanation of gut dysfunction following β-cell loss has emerged. That is, instead of being due to insulin lack, some gut dysfunction in insulinopenic diabetes may instead be due to the loss of its co-secreted partner, amylin. […] While insulin and amylin are essentially absent in type 1 diabetes, in states of impaired glucose tolerance and early type 2 diabetes, each of these hormones may in fact be hypersecreted […] The ZDF rat is a model of insulin resistance, with some strains developing type 2 diabetes. These animals, which hypersecrete from pancreatic β-cells, exhibit both hyperinsulinaemia and hyperamylinaemia.”

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If amylin is hypersecreted in type 2 diabetics and the hormone is absent in type 1 and you do population studies on mixed populations of type 1 and type 2 patients and try to figure out what is going on, you’re going to have some potential issues. The picture seems not too dissimilar to what you see when you look at bone disease in diabetes; type 1s have a high fracture risk, type 2s also have a higher than normal fracture risk, but ‘the effect of diabetes’ is in fact very different in the two groups (in part – but certainly not only – because most type 2s are overweight or obese, and overweight decreases the fracture risk). Some of the relevant pathways of pathophysiological interest are identical in the two patient populations (this is also the case here; acute hyperglycemia is known to cause delayed gastric emptying even in non-diabetics), some are completely different – it’s a mess. This is one reason why I don’t think the confusing results of some of the population studies included early in the book’s coverage – which I decided not to cover in detail here – are necessarily all that surprising.

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“Many gastrointestinal reflexes are glucose-sensitive, reflecting their often unrecognised glucoregulatory (restricting elevations of glucose during hyperglycaemia) and counter-regulatory functions (promoting elevation of glucose during hypoglycaemia). Glucose-sensitive effects include inhibition of food intake, control of gastric emptying rate, and regulation of gastric acid secretion and pancreatic enzyme secretion […] Some gastrointestinal manifestations of diabetes may therefore be secondary, and compensatory, to markedly disturbed plasma glucose concentrations. […] It has emerged in recent years that several of the most potent of nearly 60 reported biological actions of amylin [286] are gastrointestinal effects that appear to collectively restrict nutrient influx and promote glucose tolerance. These include inhibition of gastric emptying, inhibition of food intake, inhibition of digestive functions (pancreatic enzyme secretion, gastric acid secretion and bile ejection), and inhibition of nutrient-stimulated glucagon secretion. […] In rats, amylin is the most potent of any known mammalian peptide in slowing gastric emptying […] An amylin agonist (pramlintide), several GLP-1 agonists and exendin-4 are being explored as potential therapies for the treatment of diabetes, with inhibition of gastric emptying being recognised as a mode of therapeutic action. […] The concept of the gut as an organ of metabolic control is yet to be widely accepted, and antidiabetic drugs that moderate nutrient uptake as a mode of therapy have only begun to emerge. A potential advantage such therapies hold over those that enhance insulin action, is their general glucose dependence and low propensity to (per se) induce hypoglycaemia.”