Associations between ketone bodies and fasting plasma glucose in individuals with post-pancreatitis prediabetes.

CONTEXT: Levels of ketone bodies are altered in both acute pancreatitis and type 1 and type 2 diabetes. However, the role of ketone bodies in the pathogenesis of abnormal glucose metabolism after pancreatitis is largely unknown.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the associations between ketone bodies and glucose homeostasis in individuals with post-pancreatitis prediabetes (PPP) versus normoglycaemia after pancreatitis (NAP).

METHODS: Fasting blood samples were analysed for acetoacetate, β-hydroxybutyrate, and markers of glucose metabolism at a median of 26 months after acute pancreatitis. A series of linear regression analyses were conducted adjusting for patient- and pancreatitis-related characteristics.

RESULTS: The study included 27 individuals with PPP and 52 with NAP. β-hydroxybutyrate was significantly associated with fasting plasma glucose (p = .002) and explained 26.2% of its variance in PPP, but not in NAP (p = .814; 0%). Acetoacetate was not significantly associated with fasting plasma glucose in both PPP (p = .681) or NAP (p = .661).

CONCLUSIONS: An inverse association between β-hydroxybutyrate and fasting plasma glucose characterises PPP and this may have translational implications.