Background: Effects of endurance training on adipose insulin sensitivity in association with body composition, circulating adipokines, and markers of inflammation have been studied less in young Asian subjects.Methods: Adipose insulin sensitivity/resistance was compared between 170 female Japanese collegiate athletes and 311 nonathletes (18–24 years), who underwent measurements of serum adipokines, markers of insulin sensitivity, inflammation, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Two separate subsamples of two groups of women underwent either a 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test or a standardized meal test, but not both.Results: As compared with nonathletes, athletes, characterized by higher skeletal muscle mass and lower percentage of body fat (both P < 0.001), had lower adipose insulin resistance (IR) (a product of fasting insulin and nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) and lower leptin/adiponectin ratio (both P < 0.001). Although athletes had lower postmeal/postglucose insulinemia (P = 0.009 and 0.01, respectively), the two groups did not differ in postmeal percentage NEFA suppression and postmeal/postglucose glycemia, suggesting increased insulin sensitivity in adipose tissue and skeletal muscle, respectively. Serum leptin (P < 0.001) and tumor necrosis factor-α (P = 0.01) were lower in athletes, whereas adiponectin and homeostasis model assessment IR did not differ.Conclusions: Endurance training was associated with increased insulin sensitivity in adipose tissue as well as skeletal muscle without changes in circulating adiponectin even in young, normal-weight Japanese women.

Although studies have shown that early oral feeding after abdominal surgery is feasible, the optimal dietary schedule has not been established. This study was conducted prospectively to compare the clinical outcome of patient-controlled dietary schedule with that of conventional dietary schedule after gastric resection for early cancer. Patients in the patient-controlled diet (PC) group (n = 53) received a solid diet on demand; patients in the conventional regimen (CR) group (n = 50) received a solid diet from postoperative day (POD) 10. All patients underwent distal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer. A liquid diet was tolerated by the PC group on POD 2, and a solid diet was taken on POD 6 after gastrectomy, earlier than in the CR group. The postoperative hospital stay was 18.5 +/- 5.9 days (10-40) in the PC group, versus 21.7 +/- 8.8 days (14-57) in the CR group (p = 0.02). Patients in the PC group had a higher daily oral intake of calories on POD 10 than those in the CR group (p = 0.02). Changes in body weight and serum albumin during the postoperative period and after discharge, and the incidence of complications and variances from clinical pathways did not show significant differences between the two groups. The PC schedule was feasible after distal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer. It improved the clinical outcome, with a shorter postoperative hospital stay and a higher oral energy intake on early phase, compared with the CR schedule. Moreover, the PC approach was useful for establishing the optimal dietary schedule and improving the clinical pathway.

Background/AimsThis study examined associations of visit-to-visit variability of glycemic control with annual decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in patients with type 2 diabetes attending an outpatient clinic.MethodsIntrapersonal mean and coefficient of variation (CV) of 8-12 measurements of HbA1c and those of 4-6 measurements of fasting and post-breakfast plasma glucose (FPG and PPG, respectively) during the first 12 months after enrollment were calculated in a cohort of 168 patients with type 2 diabetes. Annual changes in eGFR were computed using 52 (median) creatinine measurements obtained over a median follow-up of 6.0 years. Multivariate linear regressions assessed the independent correlates of changes in eGFR.ResultsCV-HbA1c (standardized β、-0.257、p = 0.004) were significantly and log urine albumin/creatinine ratio (standardized β、-0.155、p = 0.085) and smoking (standardized β、-0.186、p = 0.062) tended to be associated with annual eGFR decline independently of mean HbA1c, age, sex, BMI, waist circumference, diabetes duration and therapy, means and CVs of FPG, PPG and systolic blood pressure, baseline eGFR, and uses of anti-hypertensive and lipid-lowering medications. Association between HbA1c variability and renal function decline was stronger in patients with albumin/creatinine ratio ≧ 30 mg/g than in those with normoalbuminuria (r = -0.400, p = 0.003 and r = -0.169, p = 0.07, respectively).ConclusionsConsistency of glycemic control is important to preserve kidney function in type 2 diabetic patients, in particular, in those with nephropathy.

ObjectiveInflammatory markers are elevated in insulin resistance (IR) and diabetes. We tested whether serum orosomucoid (ORM) is associated with postload glucose, β-cell dysfunction and IR inferred from plasma insulin kinetics during a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).Research design and methods75 g OGTTs were performed with multiple postload glucose and insulin measurements over a 30–120 min period in 168 non-obese Japanese women (aged 18–24 years). OGTT responses, serum adiponectin and high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP) were cross-sectionally analyzed by analysis of variance and then Bonferroni’s multiple comparison procedure. Stepwise multivariate linear regression analyses were used to identify most important determinants of ORM.ResultsOf 168 women, 161 had normal glucose tolerance. Postload glucose levels and the area under the glucose curve (AUCg) increased in a stepwise fashion from the first through the third ORM tertile. In contrast, there was no or modest, if any, association with fat mass index, trunk/leg fat ratio, adiponectin, hsCRP, postload insulinemia, the Matsuda index and homeostasis model assessment IR. In multivariable models, which incorporated the insulinogenic index, the Matsuda index and HOMA-IR, 30 min glucose (standardized β: 0.517) and AUCg (standardized β: 0.495) explained 92.8% of ORM variations.ConclusionsElevated circulating orosomucoid was associated with elevated 30 min glucose and glucose excursion in non-obese young Japanese women independently of adiposity, IR, insulin secretion, adiponectin and other investigated markers of inflammation. Although further research is needed, these results may suggest a clue to identify novel pathways that may have utility in monitoring dysglycemia within normal glucose tolerance.

IntroductionDeterminants and correlates of a novel index of adipose tissue insulin resistance (AT-IR) (the product of fasting insulin and free fatty acid concentrations) were investigated in Japanese women without diabetes and obesity.Research design and methodsCross-sectional associations of AT-IR with fat mass and distribution, and IR-related cardiometabolic variables were examined in 210 young and 148 middle-aged women whose average body mass index (BMI) was <23 kg/m2 and waist was <80 cm. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used to identify most important determinants of AT-IR.ResultsYoung and middle-aged women did not differ in AT-IR (3.5±2.7 and 3.2±2.1, respectively). In both young and middle-aged women, AT-IR was positively associated with trunk/leg fat ratio, a sophisticated measure of abdominal fat accumulation, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting triglycerides (FTG), serum alanine aminotransferase and γ-glutamyl-transpeptidase (all p<0.05). Furthermore, in middle-aged but not in young women, AT-IR showed positive associations with BMI, waist, fat mass index, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein B and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) (all p<0.05). AT-IR showed no association with hemoglobin A1c, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1 in two groups of women. On multivariate analysis including waist, FPG, FTG, HDL cholesterol and systolic BP as independent variables, FPG, FTG and HDL cholesterol emerged as independent determinants of AT-IR in young women (cumulative R2=0.141) and waist in middle-aged women (cumulative R2=0.056). In a model which included trunk/leg fat ratio instead of waist, trunk/leg fat ratio and systolic BP were determinants of AT-IR in middle-aged women (cumulative R2=0.093). Results did not alter in young women.ConclusionsAT-IR may be a simple and useful surrogate index of adipose tissue insulin resistance even in populations without diabetes and obesity.