Combined hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia, but not hyperinsulinemia alone, suppress human skeletal muscle lipolytic activity in vivo

Abstract

Effects of circulating insulin and glucose concentrations on skeletal muscle and adipose tissue lipolytic activity were investigated in 10 type 1 diabetes patients with no endogenous insulin secretion. Microdialysis measurements of interstitial glycerol and determination of fractional glycerol release were carried out during standardized combinations of relative hypoinsulinemia/moderate hyperglycemia (11 mmol/liter), hyperinsulinemia/ normoglycemia (5 mmol/liter), and hyperinsulinemia/moderate hyperglycemia, respectively. Local tissue blood flow rates were measured with the 133Xe clearance technique. In response to the change from hypo- to hyperinsulinemia, the fractional release of glycerol decreased from 159.6 ± 17.8 to 85.1 ± 13.7 μmol/liter (P < 0.0001) in adipose tissue, whereas it remained unchanged in skeletal muscle (44.6 ± 6.4 vs. 36.0 ± 7.4 μmol/liter; not significant). When hyperinsulinemia was combined with hyperglycemia, fractional glycerol release was further reduced in adipose tissue (64.5 ± 12.2 μmol/liter; P < 0.05), and in this situation it was also markedly decreased in skeletal muscle (18.1 ± 4.8 μmol/liter; P < 0.0001). Skeletal muscle blood flow was unaltered over the respective study periods. Adipose tissue blood flow decreased by 50% in response to hyperinsulinemia (P < 0.0005), but no further change was seen when hyperinsulinemia was combined with hyperglycemia. It is concluded that in patients with type 1 diabetes, insulin does not exert an antilipolytic effect in skeletal muscle during normoglycemia. However, in response to combined hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia, the lipolytic activity in skeletal muscle is restrained in a similar way as in adipose tissue. This may be explained by a glucose-mediated potentiation of the antilipolytic effectiveness of insulin.