Free fatty acids and insulin secretion in humans.

Acute increases in plasma levels of long-chain fatty acids raise plasma insulin levels by stimulating insulin secretion or by decreasing insulin clearance. In normal subjects, long-term elevations of fatty acids also stimulate insulin secretion. In fact, they increase insulin precisely to the degree needed to compensate for the fatty acid-induced insulin resistance. In contrast, in individuals who are genetically predisposed to develop type 2 diabetes (prediabetic subjects), the free fatty acid (FFA) stimulation of insulin secretion is not sufficient to fully compensate for the FFA-induced insulin resistance. Therefore, obesity, if associated with elevated fatty acid levels, may lead to hyperglycemia in prediabetic but not in normal individuals.