Hyperinsulinemia in patients with low fractional catabolic rate of triglycerides

In non-diabetic persons whose serum triglyceride (TG) concentrations ranged from normal to very high levels, endogenous TG turnover was measured using the radioglycerol method of Farquhar and coworkers. Insulin, FFA, and glucose concentrations were estimated during an oral glucose tolerance test. Stimulated insulin levels were correlated positively to TG concentrations and absolute TG turnover rates, and negatively to fractional TG catabolic rates. FFA concentrations had similar relationships, also in non-insulin-dependent diabetics. A more detailed analysis showed that elevated insulin and FFA levels - as an expression of peripheral insulin resistance - are typical finding in the kind of patients whose fractional TG catabolic rate is low [less than or equal to 0.210 (h-1)], irrespective of actual serum TG concentration. Our data do not suggest a stimulatory role of insulin for TG production.