Correlation of serum visfatin and free fatty acid with insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes

Objective To investigate the association of serum visfatin and free fatty acid(FFA) with insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods One hundred and nineteen patients with T2DM and 65 health subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) were enrolled in the study.The T2DM patients were further classified as insulin resistant (HOMA-IR>2.8 mU/L, T2DM-IR group, n=61) and non-insulin resistant (HOMA-IR≤2.8 mU/L, T2DM-NIR group, n=58). Serum visfatin, free fatty acid and related clinical variables were measured, and HOMA-IR was calculated. Results The serum levels of visfatin and FFA in T2DM patients were significantly higher than those in healthy controls [(4.7±2.5) vs. (1.7±0.9) ng/L, t=-11.831, P<0.01; (1.65±0.69) vs. (0.61±0.21) mmol/L, t=-9.239, P<0.01]. The serum levels of visfatin and FFA in T2DM-IR group were significantly higher than those in T2DM-NIR group [(6.3±2.3) vs. (3.0±1.4) ng/L, P<0.01; (2.16±0.45) vs. (1.12±0.46) mmol/L, P<0.01]. Multiple regression analysis showed that FFA, fasting insulin level and waist/hip ratio (WHR) were independent risk factors of serum visfatin level(r=0.564, 0.267 and 0.188 respectively, all P<0.05). Conclusion Serum levels of visfatin and FFA are increased in T2DM, and they are closely associated with insulin resistance. Key words: Diabetes mellitus, type 2; Visfatin; Free fatty acid; Insulin resistance