Postprandial changes in glucose oxidation and insulin sensitivity in metabolic syndrome: Influence of fibroblast growth factor 21 and vitamin D status
Nutrition Volume 37, May 2017, Pages 37–42 Kaveri Pathak
Highlights
• The present study suggests that vitamin D status plays an unrecognized role in postprandial energy metabolism in humans.
• The role of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), a well-recognized metabolic regular, has not been assessed in postprandial thermogenesis in metabolic syndrome.
• Prevailing 25 hydroxyvitamin D rather than acute increases in FGF21, significantly increased postprandial insulin sensitivity as well.
Metabolic inflexibility due to insulin resistance has been reported in metabolic syndrome (MetS). Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) and vitamin D status may improve insulin sensitivity. The aim of this study was to investigate glucose-induced thermogenesis and oxidation in MetS, and to examine whether changes in FGF21 or prevailing vitamin D status modulated defined metabolic parameters.
Methods
Forty-eight overweight and obese older adults (14 men, 34 women; ages 51 ± 15 y) were studied. Resting metabolic rate (RMR) and respiratory quotient (RQ) were measured before and intermittently for 2 h after an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The total area under the curve (TAUC) was calculated. Insulin sensitivity index (ISI) was determined as 104/(insulin × glucose) for fasting and 2 h venous blood. Fat mass (FM) and fat free mass (FFM) were measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Participants were grouped by metabolic syndrome (MetS+ for disease presence; MetS− when no disease was present) and by median 25 hydroxyvitamin D (OHD) concentration as VD_low and VD_high. 25 OHD was also tested as a continuous variable. A parsimonious 2 × 2 analysis of variance included age, FM, FFM and MetS × sex interaction.
Results
Adjusted RMR was similar between groups but an interactive effect of MetS and sex was noted. Fasting RQ was significantly different between vitamin groups (VD_low: 0.835 ± 0.008 versus VD_high: 0.810 ± 0.008; P = 0.024) and fasting ISI was significantly greater in MetS− compared with MetS+ (P = 0.037). Postglucose increases in thermogenesis, RQ, and FGF21 were significant, but ISI decreased. Adjusted postprandial TAUC_RQ (VD_low: 1.71 ± 0.01; VD_high: 1.74 ± 0.001; P = 0.041) and ISI_2 h (VD_low: 35.41 ± 0.21; VD_high: 101.90 ± 0.21; P = 0.001) were significantly different. Adjusted FGF21 was similar across all comparisons before and after OGTT.
Conclusions
Higher vitamin D status, but not FGF21, was associated with greater postprandial glucose oxidation and improved insulin sensitivity.