Acute elevation of free fatty acid levels leads to hepatic insulin resistance in obese subjects

Seven women with moderate obesity but normal glucose tolerance with the use of the insulin clamp technique with or without an infusion of Intralipid + heparin are studied, finding that raised levels of free fatty acids may induce insulin resistance in the normal subject.

Abstract

Raised levels of free fatty acids (FFA) compete with glucose for utilization by insulin-sensitive tissues, and, therefore, they may induce insulin resistance in the normal subject. The influence of experimental elevations in FFA levels on glucose metabolism in native insulin-resistant states is not known. We studied seven women with moderate obesity (63% above their ideal body weight) but normal glucose tolerance with the use of the insulin clamp technique with or without an infusion of Intralipid + heparin. Upon raising plasma insulin levels to approximately 60 microU/mL while maintaining euglycemia, whole body glucose utilization (3H-3-glucose) rose similarly without (from 66 +/- 7 to 113 +/- 11 mg/min m2, P less than .02) or with (from 70 +/- 7 to 137 +/- 19 mg/min m2, P less than .02) concomitant lipid infusion. In contrast, endogenous glucose production was considerably (73%) suppressed (from 66 +/- 7 to 15 +/- 8 mg/min m2, P less than .001) during the clamp without lipid, but declined only marginally (from 70 +/- 7 to 48 +/- 7 mg/min m2, NS) with lipid administration. The difference between the control and the lipid study was highly significant (P less than .02), and amounted to an average of 3.8 g of relative glucose overproduction during the second hour of the clamp. Blood levels of lactate rose by 34 +/- 15% (.1 greater than P greater than .05) in the control study but only by 17 +/- 10% (NS) during lipid infusion. Blood pyruvate concentrations fell in both sets of experiments (by approximately 45% at the end of the study) with similar time courses.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)