pubmed-article:2124985 | pubmed:abstractText | Increased lipolysis in abdominal adipocytes has been suggested to be of importance for the insulin resistance typical for abdominal obesity. In order to differentiate between fat distribution, measured as waist/hip ratio (WHR), and amount of body fat, glucose disposal during a euglycaemic clamp as well as lipolysis in isolated cells from abdominal and gluteo-femoral regions were studied in 20 obese and 20 lean postmenopausal women with a high (n = 10) and low (n = 10) WHR, respectively. The lipolytic response was increased in cells from obese women irrespective of region. Furthermore, lipolysis was enhanced in abdominal compared with the gluteo-femoral cells in obese women with a high WHR. Fasting blood glucose and insulin were increased in both groups of obese women while the degree of insulin resistance was most pronounced in the obese women with a high WHR. It is concluded that increased body fat is associated with both insulin resistance and increased lipolysis, and that this relationship is stronger in the presence of a high WHR. A high WHR may increase the expression of obesity as a risk for insulin resistance and this may be mediated through an increased lipolytic rate. | lld:pubmed |