Morbidly obese individuals with impaired fasting glucose have a specific pattern of insulin secretion and sensitivity: effect of weight loss after bariatric surgery.

BACKGROUND

Obesity is often associated with hyper-secrection of insulin. Impaired fasting glucose (IFG) has recently been redefined as a fasting plasma glucose of 5.6-6.9 mmol/L. The aim of this study was to determine whether changes in insulin secretion in morbidly obese persons also commence with normal serum glucose levels.

METHODS

32 morbidly obese subjects were studied before and after bariatric surgery. Measurements were made of glucose tolerance (K(G)), insulin sensitivity (SI), first-phase insulin release and the disposition index (DI) from a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test.

RESULT

In morbidly obese subjects, the SI (P<0.01), DI (P<0.01) and first-phase insulin release (P<0.02) started changing with serum glucose levels considered to be normal (5.00-5.28 mmol/L). K(G) showed a clear slope according to the baseline glycemia status (P<0.05), and it was significantly related with the DI, both before (r=0.76, P<0.001) and after (r=0.57, P=0.002) surgery. Following surgery, all the variables significantly associated with insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity recovered significantly. The most significant changes occurred in morbidly obese individuals with IFG.

CONCLUSIONS

Morbidly obese subjects show slopes of insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion in accordance with their baseline serum glucose levels. The fall in first-phase insulin release begins when serum glucose values are considered normal. Morbidly obese persons with the IFG phenotype have a specific pattern of insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion. K(G) clearly discriminates the clinical phenotypes, depending on baseline serum glucose levels.