Brain Glycogen Content & Metabolism in Type 1 Diabetes

Gulin Oz¹, Nolawit Tesfaye¹, Anjali Kumar¹, Dinesh K. Deelchand¹, Elizabeth R. Seaquist¹

Supercompensated brain glycogen levels may contribute to the development of hypoglycaemia unawareness in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) by providing energy for the brain during periods of hypoglycaemia. To determine if brain glycogen content is higher in patients with T1D and hypoglycaemia unawareness, brain glycogen content and turnover was measured in 5 patients and 5 age/gender/BMI matched healthy controls using ¹³C MRS and IV infusion of [1-¹³C]glucose followed by [1-¹²C]glucose for a total of 50h. A strong trend for lower glycogen levels in patients than controls (p=0.05) was observed, refuting supercompensated glycogen levels in T1D and hypoglycaemia unawareness.