Role of Insulin Resistance in Human Disease (Syndrome X): An Expanded Definition

Resistance to insulin-mediated glucose uptake is characteristic of individuals with impaired glucose intolerance or non-insulin-dependent diabetes, and it also occurs commonly in patients with high blood pressure. The physiological response to a decrease in insulin-mediated glucose uptake is an increase in insulin secretion, and as long as a state of compensatory hyperinsulinemia can be maintained, frank decompensation of glucose tolerance can be prevented. However, it is likely that the defect in insulin action and/or the associated hyperinsulinemia will lead to an increase in plasma triglyceride and a decrease in high density lipoprotein-cholesterol concentration, and high blood pressure. It seems likely that the cluster of changes associated with resistance to insulin-mediated glucose uptake comprise a syndrome, which plays an important role in the etiology and clinical course of patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes, high blood pressure, and coronary heart disease.