Relationship between gastric emptying and postprandial insulin requirement determined by artificial pancreas in diabetics

Gastric emptying controls food delivery into small intestine, thus postprandial blood sugar level is supposed to be controlled by gastric emptying. In this study we compared gastric emptying state and postprandial insulin requirement by artificial pancreas (Biostator®) in diabetic patients. The ratio of posprandial/total daily insulin requirement of patients with delayed gastric emptying is significantly lower than that of patients with normal gastric emptying. There were highly significant correlation between gastic emptying and postprandial insulin requirement by artificial pancreas in diabetic patients. This suggests that gastric emptying has important role in blood sugar level control in diabetics. Thus, the pattern of insulin demand by artificial pancreas during feedback control of constant blood sugar level is supposed to show the gastric emptying state.