C-peptide
A by-product of the body's own insulin production.
What it is
C-peptide is released one-for-one with the body's own insulin, so it shows how much insulin the pancreas itself is making - useful because injected insulin contains none.
Why it matters
It helps distinguish types of diabetes and assess remaining insulin production, always in clinical context with glucose.
This guide is educational only and cannot diagnose you. Discuss results, especially anything outside your laboratory’s reference interval, or that does not match how you feel, with a GP or other appropriately qualified clinician.
This guide is educational only and cannot diagnose you. Discuss results, especially anything outside your laboratory’s reference interval, or that does not match how you feel, with a GP or other appropriately qualified clinician.
How it affects the body
No known action of its own; its value is as a marker of insulin secretion.
For athletes
Sometimes checked in metabolic work-ups; fasting status changes it, so note whether the sample was fasted.
Related tests
No published panels currently list this marker.