Assessing Insulin Sensitivity and Resistance in Humans

In this chapter we discuss a representative variety of methods currently available for estimating insulin sensitivity/resistance. These range from complex, time consuming, labor-intensive, invasive procedures to simple tests involving a single fasting blood sample. It is important to understand the physiological concepts informing each method so that relative merits and limitations of particular approaches are appropriately matched with proposed applications and data is interpreted correctly. The glucose clamp method is the reference standard for direct measurement of insulin sensitivity. Regarding simple surrogates, QUICKI and Log (HOMA) are among the best and most extensively validated. Dynamic tests are useful if information about both insulin secretion and insulin action are needed. For complete coverage of all related areas of Endocrinology, please visit our on-line FREE web-text, WWW.ENDOTEXT.ORG .