[New data in the domain of insulin resistance]

Insulin resistance may occur to a variable degree in various disease conditions. Obesity is frequently accompanied by insulin resistance. The anti-insulin antibodies in patients treated with insulin are a classical cause, but in fact rare. Insulin resistance of variable degree may accompany certain metabolic disorders, e.g. diabetic ketosis and acidosis, and endocrine disorders, e.g. Cushing's syndrome, acromegaly. The measurement of insulin receptors brings a new dimension to the investigation of insulin resistance. Insulin receptors are reduced in number during obesity. The abnormality, partly responsible for insulin resistance, is reducible by reduction in calory intake. Circulating insulin anti-receptor antibodies appear to be responsible for insulin resistance which is particularly marked although exeptional, in nonobese diabetics with acanthosis nigrans and auto-immune symptoms.