Preliminary report: homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, an indicator of insulin resistance, is strongly related to serum insulin: practical data presentation and the mathematical basis

Abstract

The homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-R) is frequently used as an indicator of insulin resistance. The purpose of this study was to clarify the advantage of HOMA-R as an indicator of insulin resistance. A population of 3008 Japanese male workers (34 to 64 years old), who have no history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, hyperuricemia, coronary and/or cerebrovascular disease and their fasting plasma glucose were under 140 mg/dL. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between HOMA-R and the serum insulin was 0.982. Although HOMA-R is also regulated by the plasma glucose, insulin and plasma glucose are not independent. The lower and upper 2.5%ile data of plasma glucose were prepared, which were used for mathematical basis of strong correlation between HOMA-R and serum insulin. Subjects with higher insulin had higher plasma glucose, which was resulted in higher HOMA-R. In the same manner, HOMA-R would become lower in the area of lower insulin levels. As two lines of the lower and upper 2.5%ile data of plasma glucose exists near, the correlation between HOMA-R and serum insulin became very strong. Although HOMA-R is a popular indicator of insulin resistance, we recommend that HOMA-R could be substituted simply by serum insulin. This may be valid in the general population with no remakable medical condition.