In humans at least 75% of insulin secretion arises from punctuated insulin secretory bursts

Detection of insulin secretory bursts in peripheral blood is hampered by hepatic insulin extraction, dilution in the systemic insulin pool, and time-delayed damping of secretory burst amplitude. Previous studies in dogs in vivo and other experiments in vitro have shown that ∼70% of all insulin is released within distinct insulin secretory bursts. To establish a method for detection and quantification of pulsatile insulin release in humans on the...