Hyperinsulin Response to Oral Leucine in Obesity and Acromegaly

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Oral doses of l-leucine (0.2 g/kg) stimulated insulin release in obese and in acromegalic patients, but was ineffective in normal subjects, even when comparable total amounts of leucine were administered. Despite their exaggerated insulin responses, there was no change in plasma glucose levels in the obese and in the acromegalic patients. After leucine, elevated serum levels of insulin correlated with the presence of generalized hyperinsulinism as evidenced by basal hyperinsulinism and an exaggerated insulin response to an oral glucose load. These findings indicate that oral doses of leucine readily stimulate insulin release in conditions associated with islet cell hyperplasia, and may thus serve as an indicator of beta cell hyperresponsiveness.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: