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[Technics for studying insulin resistance in vivo]
Insulin resistance is found in physiological (starvation, gestation) or pathological (diabetes, obesity, uremia, cortisol or growth hormone excess) situations. In order to study insulin resistance, a number of tests have been developed which have evolved in term of practical and conceptual complexity. In the present paper, these tests are analyzed for their reliability in answering the following questions: does an insulin resistance exist? Is it possible quantify it? What are the causes (receptor or post receptor defect) and the tissues producing or utilizing glucose involved in insulin resistance? Emphasis is placed upon a newly developed technique: the euglycemic, hyperinsulinemic glucose clamp. Progress in the knowledge of insulin resistance as well as the problems or limitations linked to this latter technique are discussed.
Insulin resistance is found in physiological (starvation, gestation) or pathological (diabetes, obesity, uremia, cortisol or growth hormone excess) situations. In order to study insulin resistance, a number of tests have been developed which have evolved in term of practical and conceptual complexity. In the present paper, these tests are analyzed for their reliability in answering the following questions: does an insulin resistance exist? Is it possible quantify it? What are the causes (receptor or post receptor defect) and the tissues producing or utilizing glucose involved in insulin resistance? Emphasis is placed upon a newly developed technique: the euglycemic, hyperinsulinemic glucose clamp. Progress in the knowledge of insulin resistance as well as the problems or limitations linked to this latter technique are discussed.