Obesity and insulin resistance in Swedish subjects.

Insulin resistance and secretory defects seem to be present in Swedish obese elderly, NIDDM subjects. A defect in insulin secretion seems to dominate in lean elderly male Swedish subjects with NIDDM. Furthermore, TNF alpha expression and secretion are increased in adipose tissue from obese subjects and correlates with insulin resistance roughly measured as elevated fasting plasma insulin in spite of normal fasting blood glucose.