Concentrations of Glucose and Insulin in Normal-Weight, Apparently Healthy Women - Where Does Insulin Resistance Start?

Insulin resistance (IR), like typeII diabetes, is being diagnosed in younger age groups. This raises the question as to which glucose and insulin values are appropriate in normal-weight, apparently healthy adults. 289female subjects aged 17-56years consented to an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). By definition - 90(th) percentile - the threshold values were 97mg/dl for fasting glucose, 14.8 mu U/ml for fasting insulin and 4.1 for the HOMA-insulin resistance-index (HOMA-IR). When only fasting insulin and HOMA-IR were taken into consideration, 14.9% of subjects had IR, increasing to 22.5% when insulin sensitivity based on the OGTT (Belfiore-Index) were additionally considered. These results underline the need for an OGTT with measurements of both glucose and insulin, for early detection of IR. As IR even in normal-weight, apparently healthy women can lead to serious micro-and macroangiopathy, early prevention is necessary to avoid secondary complications. So for one should discriminate between primary IR (without any pathology) and secondary IR (with additional pathology).