Plasma glucose and insulin responses to oral glucose in nonobese subjects and patients with endogenous hypertriglyceridemia.

Plasma glucose and insulin responses to a 50-gm oral glucose challenge were determined in 396 nonobese subjects: 220 patients with endogenous hypertriglyceridemia and 176 normal persons. These groups were further subdivided on the basis of relative body weight: 1.0-1.1 and 1.1-1.2. Patients with endogenous hypertriglyceridemia whose obesity index was between 1.0 and 1.1 had significantly increased plasma glucose (more than 25%, P less than 0.001) and insulin (more than 18%, P less than 0.01) responses. Similar findings were also observed in patients with endogenous hypertriglyceridemia whose index of obesity was between 1.1 and 1.2, ie, there was a 25% increase in the plasma glucose response (P less than 0.001) and a 37% increase in the plasma insulin response (P less than 0.001). Thus, endogenous hypertriglyceridemia can occur in nonobese individuals, and these patients have an increase in their plasma glucose and insulin responses when weight-matched with nonobese normal subjects.