Associations Between Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA) and Routinely Examined Parameters in Individuals With Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate whether routine clinical parameters, including visceral adiposity index (VAI) and atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), could become widely applicable predictors of insulin resistance (IR), evaluated using homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR, HOMA-β), with regard to presence of metabolic syndrome (MS). The study comprised 188 individuals identified to meet the MS criteria during regular health examinations and an equal number of age, sex-matched controls without MS. The strongest correlations were noted between HOMA-IR and waist circumference (WC) in the MS group (r=0.57) as well as between HOMA-IR and alanine aminotransferase (ALT, r=0.57) or aspartate aminotransferase (r=0.56) in the controls, with a statistical significance of p<0.001. In a multivariate linear regression model, the predictors of HOMA-IR were WC (linear coefficient β=0.1, p<0.001), ALT (β=2.28, p<0.001) and systolic blood pressure (β=0.04, p<0.001). HOMA-β was determined by WC (β=1.97, p=0.032)and ALT (β=99.49, p=0.004) and inversely associated with age (β=-1.31, p=0.004). Neither VAI nor AIP were significant predictors. The presence of MS was significantly associated with both HOMA-IR and HOMA-β. These results indicate that WC and ALT appear to be reliable predictors of IR. Comprehensive assessment of these parameters may serve for estimating the level of IR.

What are the real associations of homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) with body mass index and age?

“…Thus, statistically significant linear associations of HOMA with some parameters were demonstrated, including the inverse linear association of HOMA-b with age. Such an association with age was not proven for HOMA-IR [6,7]. However, it is assumed that the dependence of the development of glucose metabolism disorders, including IR and b-cell dysfunction, on time (expressed by the increasing age), is not a linear function.…”

Profiling of cell‐free DNA methylation and histone signatures in pediatric NAFLD: A pilot study

“…Glucose and insulin were measured at fasting. The homeostasis model assessment index of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) [35] was calculated as a surrogate marker of insulin resistance.…”