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Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2017

Relationship Between β-cell Response and Insulin Sensitivity in Horses based on the Oral Sugar Test and the Euglycemic Hyperinsulinemic Clamp

Lindase, S.; Nostell, K.; Soder, J.; Brojer, J.

Abstract

Background: A hyperbolic relationship between beta-cell response and insulin sensitivity (IS) has been described in several species including rodents, dogs, and humans. This relationship has not been elucidated in the horse.Hypothesis/Objectives: To determine whether the hyperbolic relationship between beta-cell response and IS exists in horses by using indices of beta-cell response from the oral sugar test (OST) and IS measurements from the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp (EHC). A second aim was to compare how well IS estimates from the OST and EHC correlate.Animals: Forty-nine horses with different degrees of insulin regulation (normal-to-severe insulin dysregulation).Methods: Cross-sectional study. Horses were examined with an OST and an EHC.Results: Decreased IS was associated with increased beta-cell response in the horses. Nine of 12 comparisons between indices of beta-cell response and IS measures fulfilled the criteria for a hyperbolic relationship. Indices of IS calculated from the OST correlated highly with the insulin-dependent glucose disposal rate (M) and the insulin-dependent glucose disposal rate per unit of insulin (M/I) determined from the EHC (r = 0.81-0.87).Conclusions and Clinical Importance: A hyperbolic relationship between beta-cell response and IS exists in horses, which suggest that horses with insulin dysregulation respond not only with postprandial hyperinsulinemia but are also insulin resistant. The OST is primarily a test for beta-cell response rather than a test for IS, but calculated indices of IS from the OST may be useful to estimate IS in horses, especially when the horse is insulin resistant.

Keywords

Equine metabolic syndrome; Hyperbolic relationship; Insulin dysregulation; Insulin resistance

Published in

Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine
2017, volume: 31, number: 5, pages: 1541-1550

Authors' information

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Clinical Sciences
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Clinical Sciences
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry (AFB)
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Clinical Sciences

UKÄ Subject classification

Medical Bioscience
Clinical Science

Publication Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.14799

URI (permanent link to this page)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/86994