Postprandial Hyperglycemia and Insulin Sensitivity Differ among Lean Young Adults of Different Ethnicities

Abstract

Both postprandial hyperglycemia and insulin resistance (IR) have implications for the development of cardiovascular disease. The present study was designed to examine differences in postprandial glycemia and insulin sensitivity among young adults of different ethnic origins. Lean, healthy subjects (n = 60) from five ethnic groups [20 European Caucasians, 10 Chinese, 10 South East (SE) Asians, 10 Asian Indians and 10 Arabic Caucasians] were matched for age, body mass index, waist circumference, birth weight and current diet. A 75-g white bread carbohydrate challenge was fed to assess postprandial glycemia and insulinemia. Insulin sensitivity was assessed in three groups by the euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp and in all subjects by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) modeling. Postprandial hyperglycemia (incremental area under the curve) and insulin sensitivity (M-value) both showed a twofold variation among the groups (P < 0.001) and were significantly related to each other (R(2) = 56%, P < 0.001). Young SE Asians had the highest postprandial glycemia and lowest insulin sensitivity, whereas European and Arabic Caucasian subjects were the most insulin sensitive and carbohydrate tolerant. These findings suggest that IR is evident even in lean, young adults of some ethnic groups and is associated with significant increases in postprandial glycemia and insulinemia in response to a realistic carbohydrate load.

The glycaemic index values of foods containing fructose are affected by metabolic differences between subjects

“…Older age, non-Caucasian ethnicity and high triglycerides are associated with insulin resistance (Chen et al, 1985;Haffner et al, 1996;Harris et al, 1998;Dickinson et al, 2002;Lewis et al, 2002;Lam et al, 2007), which increases postprandial glucose by increasing the hepatic glucose output and reducing the muscle glucose uptake (Hwang et al, 1995;Bruttomesso et al, 1999). However, fasting insulin, a measure of insulin sensitivity (Laakso, 1993;Clausen et al, 1996), was not independently related to AUC for any food.…”

High prevalence of insulin resistance in postpubertal Asian Indian children is associated with adverse truncal body fat patterning, abdominal adiposity and excess body fat

“…Three earlier studies showed higher fasting insulin concentrations and HOMA-IR values in South Asians or Asian Indians as compared to other ethnic groups, [14][15][16] but did not assess their relationships with peripheral and truncal subcutaneous fat, abdominal adiposity, and body fat, and included either a small number of prepubertal children or young adults. Whincup et al 14 studied surrogate markers of insulin resistance in an unspecified number of Asian Indian children among 40 South Asian prepubertal children (9-11 y age) in a population-based study.…”

“…[14][15][16] These studies have dealt with limited numbers of offspring of migrant Asians who are generally more affluent, and have an acculturated diet and lifestyle as compared to those living in India. A population-based study of insulin resistance, anthropometric, and cardiovascular risk factor profile in postpubertal Asian Indian children has not been carried out.…”

Optimal dietary approaches for prevention of type 2 diabetes: a life-course perspective

“…The net effect is a reduction in functional beta cell mass in the type 2 diabetic state. Information drawn from previously published work [119,120] Carbohydrates, serum lipids and hepatic lipogenesis…”