Relationship between elevated triglyceride levels with the increase of HOMA-IR and HOMA-ß in healthy children and adolescents with normal weight.

UNLABELLED: To test the hypothesis that mildly elevated triglyceride levels are associated with the increase of homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and ß-cell function (HOMA-ß) indices in healthy children and adolescents with normal weight, we conducted a cross-sectional population study. Based on fasting triglyceride levels, participants were allocated into groups with and without triglyceride levels ≥1.2 mmol/L. Normal weight was defined by body mass index between the 15th and 85th percentiles, for age and gender. Insulin resistance and insulin secretion were estimated using HOMA-IR and HOMA-ß indices. A total of 1660 children and adolescents were enrolled, of them 327 (19.7%) with mildly elevated triglycerides. The multivariate linear regression analysis showed that mildly elevated triglyceride levels in children were associated with HOMA-IR (ß = 0.214, p < 0.001), HOMA-ß (ß = 0.139, p = 0.001), systolic (ß = 0.094, p = 0.01), and diastolic blood pressure (ß = 0.102, p = 0.007), whereas in adolescents, HOMA-IR (ß = 0.267, p < 0.001) and HOMA-ß (ß = 0.154, p < 0.001), but not systolic (ß = 0.029, p = 0.38) and diastolic blood pressure (ß = 0.015, p = 0.642), showed association with mildly elevated triglycerides. CONCLUSION: Mildly elevated triglyceride levels are associated with increased HOMA-IR and HOMA-ß indices in healthy children and adolescents with normal weight.

Birth-weight, insulin levels, and HOMA-IR in newborns at term.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have demonstrated that low and high birth-weight at birth are risk factors of developing diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine if the abnormal birth-weight is related with hyperinsulinemia and elevated index of the Homeostasis Model assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) at birth, in at term newborns. METHODS: Newborns with gestational age between 38 and 41 weeks, products of normal pregnancies of healthy mothers aged 18 to 39 years, were eligible to participate. Small-for-gestational age (SGA) and large-for-gestational age (LGA) newborns were compared with appropriate-for-gestational (AGA) age newborns. Incomplete or unclear data about mother's health status, diabetes, gestational diabetes, history of gestational diabetes, hypertension, pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, and other conditions that affect glucose metabolism were exclusion criteria. Hyperinsulinemia was defined by serum insulin levels ≥13.0 µU/mL and IR by HOMA-IR ≥2.60. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds ratio (OR) that computes the association between birth-weight (independent variable) with hyperinsulinemia and HOMA-IR index (dependent variables). RESULTS: A total of 107 newborns were enrolled; 13, 22, and 72 with SGA, LGA, and AGA, respectively. Hyperinsulinemia was identified in 2 (15.4%), 6 (27.3%), and 5 (6.9%) with SGA, LGA, and AGA (p=0.03), whereas IR in 3 (23.1%), 8 (36.4%), and 10 (13.9%) newborns with SGA, LGA and AGA (p=0.06). The LGA showed a strong association with hyperinsulinemia (OR 5.02; CI 95%, 1.15-22.3; p=0.01) and HOMA-IR (OR 3.54; CI 95%, 1.03-12.16; p=0.02); although without statistical significance, the SGA showed a tendency of association with hyperinsulinemia (OR 2.43; CI 95%, 0.43-17.3 p=0.29) and HOMA-IR (OR 1.86; CI 95%, 0.33-9.37; p=0.41). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that LGA is associated with hyperinsulinemia and elevated HOMA-IR at birth whereas the SGA show a tendency of association.