Abstract
Background/Objectives:
Plasma leptin and adiponectin, and membrane phospholipid fatty acid composition are implicated into the mechanism of insulin resistance but no clear pattern has emerged. Hence, this study examined these variables in subjects presenting to the diabetic clinic for a diagnostic glucose tolerance test.
Subjects/Methods:
Body composition, glucose, glycated hemoglobin, insulin, leptin, adiponectin, and red cell and plasma phospholipid fatty acids were assessed from 42 normal and 28 impaired glucose tolerant subjects. Insulin sensitivity was determined by homeostatic model assessment.
Results:
The plasma phosphatidylcholine fatty acid composition of the impaired glucose tolerant subjects was similar to that of normal subjects. However, the impaired glucose tolerant subjects had significantly lower linoleic (P<0.05), eicosapentaenoic (P<0.05) and docosahexaenoic (P<0.01) acids in the red cell phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine compared with the normal subjects. Moreover, red cell phosphatidylcholine docosahexaenoic acid correlated positively with adiponectin (r=0.290, P<0.05) but negatively with leptin (r=−0.252, P<0.05), insulin (r=−0.335, P<0.01) and insulin resistance (r=−0.322, P<0.01). Plasma triglycerides, leptin and glucose combined predicted about 60% of variation in insulin level whereas insulin was the only component that predicted the membrane fatty acids.
Conclusions:
We postulate that membrane phospholipids fatty acids have an indirect role in determining insulin concentration but insulin has a major role in determining membrane fatty acid composition.
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Acknowledgements
The financial support of the Guy's and St Thomas’ Charity (Endocrine and Diabetic Fund), The Letten Foundation, The Foyle Foundation, The Mother and Child Foundation, and FP6 Marie Curie Actions - Transfer of Knowledge (MTKD-CT-2005-029914) is gratefully acknowledged. We thank all participants and Miss Sonja Tait, Miss Virginie Alexandre and Dr Julia Geppert for their technical assistance.
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Min, Y., Lowy, C., Islam, S. et al. Relationship between red cell membrane fatty acids and adipokines in individuals with varying insulin sensitivity. Eur J Clin Nutr 65, 690–695 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2011.19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2011.19
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