Theoretical analysis of the mechanisms of chronic hyperinsulinemia

Steady-state insulin resistance results in a fasting hyperinsulinemia and is a common feature of type II diabetes mellitus and obesity. In this study, a systems analysis approach was used to study glucose homeostasis which is considered as the dynamic balance between glucose release by the liver and its uptake by the peripheral tissues as regulated by insulin and glucagon. A series of computer simulation studies were performed utilizing a mathematical model of glucose homeostasis. The purpose of the study was to better understand the factors which control glucose balance and to ascertain their relative importance in the development of steady state, fasting hyperinsulinemia. When peripheral cellular insulin receptors which regulate glucose uptake were reduced to 25% of normal, the steady state plasma insulin concentration showed little change from the basal level of 8 μU/ml. When insulin receptors in the liver were also reduced to 25% of normal, the steady state insulin concentration increased from the basal levels to 32 μU/ml. Reducing pancreatic α cell insulin receptors to 25% of normal further increased the hyperinsulinemia to 80 μU/ml. Hence, this study suggests that the liver and its release of glucose, as controlled by insulin and glucagon, plays a central role in the development of a steady-state insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia.