Adults with type 2 diabetes tend to have larger adrenal glands, demonstrating the wide-ranging hormonal effects linked to this form of diabetes, according to new research published in the journal Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews.
The adrenal glands are smaller, somewhat triangular glands located on the top of each kidney. They produce hormones that regulate several different functions in your body — including your metabolism, blood pressure, immune system, and stress response. It’s possible for your adrenal glands to not produce enough hormones, a condition known as adrenal insufficiency (or Addison’s disease). It’s also possible for your adrenal glands to develop nodules that make them produce too much of certain hormones.
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One of the key hormones produced by the adrenal glands is cortisol, which is known as a “stress hormone” that gives you an energy boost to handle crisis situations — but it actually plays a wide-ranging role in the body. Cortisol helps to regulate functions such as the body’s use of fat, protein, and carbohydrate for energy. Cortisol also helps regulate blood pressure and suppresses inflammation, and it can increase blood glucose levels. Other key hormones produced by the adrenal glands include epinephrine and norepinephrine (adrenaline and noradrenaline), which imitate the body’s “fight or flight” response — increasing your heart rate and blood flow, opening your airways, and helping your body use blood glucose as energy.
For the latest study, researchers measured the volume of participants’ adrenal glands using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the goal of seeing how well this measurement corresponded to whether participants had prediabetes or diabetes. Diabetes status was evaluated using both fasting blood glucose and an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The participants were 375 adults with an average age of 56.1, and 25.3% of them had prediabetes, while another 13.6% had type 2 diabetes.
Larger adrenal gland volume seen in those with diabetes, prediabetes
Overall, the average total volume of participants’ adrenal glands was 11.2 milliliters — but there was large variation depending on whether participants had prediabetes or diabetes. The largest average adrenal gland volume was seen in participants with type 2 diabetes, with an average volume of 13.9 milliliters. Participants with prediabetes had an average adrenal gland volume of 12.5 milliliters, while those without prediabetes or diabetes had an average volume of 10.0 milliliters. The researchers found that the relationship between diabetes status and adrenal gland volume was independent of participants’ age and sex, and whether they had high blood pressure or triglycerides. A higher body-mass index (BMI, a measure of body weight that takes height into account) results in a weaker link between diabetes status and adrenal gland volume in participants with prediabetes, but not for those with diabetes or without either condition.
“Adrenal gland volume may represent an indirect marker of impaired glucose metabolism,” the researchers concluded — although any practical considerations of this finding will be something for future studies to explore.
Want to learn more about type 2 diabetes? Read “Diagnostic Tests for Type 2 Diabetes” and “Welcome to Diabetes.”
