Insulin resistance in diabetics and non-diabetics with impaired triglyceride removal.

Endogenous triglyceride turnover has been measured in patients with normotriglyceridemia or with hypertriglyceridemia using the radioglycerol labelling technique. In parallel, a 50 g oral glucose tolerance test was performed (blood glucose, serum insulin, free fatty acids). Non-diabetics, borderline diabetics, and overt diabetics were included. In the non-diabetics, insulin levels were negatively correlated with fractional catabolic rates for triglycerides, whereas no correlation with triglyceride synthesis rates existed. Patients with low fractional catabolic rates for triglycerides have significantly higher insulin and free fatty acid concentrations, pointing to an association between impairment of triglyceride removal and insulin resistance. There is no typical kinetic pattern of triglyceride metabolism in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.