Insulin resistance is independently related to age in Mexican women

Insulin resistance is independently related to age in Mexican women

(At Risk Populations-April 17, 2003)

"Whether the decrease of insulin action is a biological consequence of age or a result of lifestyle changes in elderly people is uncertain. Therefore, we rigorously controlled potential confounders to evaluate the relationship between age and insulin resistance in Mexican women," reported M. Rodriguez-Moran and colleagues, Durango, Mexico.

They conducted a case-control study of 50 women with insulin resistance (cases) and 50 non-insulin resistant women matched for BMI and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). The women were glucose-tolerant, non-hypertensive, between the ages of 30-65 years, and all from Durango.

"HOMA-IR index greater than or equal to 3.0 defined the presence of insulin resistance. Endocrine diseases, pregnancy, smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity were exclusion criteria," the researchers noted.

The study data revealed:

* "Insulin-resistant women were significantly older than control women (53.7 ± 12.2 vs. 46.3 ± 10.4, p=0.0004)."

* "Women in the case group showed a direct correlation between age and HOMA-IR index (0.427, p=0.02), whereas control women did not (0.09, p=0.626). "

* "Step-wise forward selection logistic regression analysis showed an independent relationship between HOMA-IR index and age (OR 1.5, Cl-95% 1.4-1.8, p=0.002)."

Thus, summarized Rodriguez-Moran and colleagues, "the results of this study show an independent relationship between age and high HOMA-IR index in Mexican women, supporting the hypothesis that age per se could be associated with the impairment of insulin action."

Rodriguez-Moran and coauthors published the results of their study in the Journal of Endocrinological Investigation (Insulin resistance is independently related to age in Mexican women. J Endocrinol Invest, 2003;26(1):42-48).

The corresponding author for this report is M. Rodriguez-Moran, Siqueiros 225 Esq Castaneda, Durango 34000, Durango, Mexico.

The information in this article comes under the major subject areas of Diabetes, Women's Health, At-Risk Populations, Insulin Resistance, Endocrinology. This article was prepared by Women's Health Weekly editors from staff and other reports.