Lack of effect of hyperglycemia on lipolysis in humans

To examine whether hyperglycemia is an independent regulator of adipose tissue lipolysis, we measured palmitate flux ([³H]palmitate) on two occasions in eight volunteers with insulin-dependent diabetes. On one occasion, euglycemia was maintained for 4 h continuously; on a different occasion, hyperglycemia (plasma glucose, 12 mmol/l) was induced after 2 h of euglycemia. Palmitate flux decreased from 1.39 ± 0.22 to 1.25 ± 0.18 μmol · kg^-1 · min^-1 during sustained euglycemia and from 1.43 ± 0.24 to 1.13 ± 0.19 μmol · kg^-1 · min^-1 during the transition from the euglycemic to the hyperglycemic study intervals. There were no significant differences between the changes in palmitate flux from the first to the second study interval on the control (euglycemia-euglycemia) and experimental (euglycemia-hyperglycemia) study days and no difference between palmitate flux on different study days. Thus, in the face of euinsulinemia, euglucagonemia, and the absence of somatostatin, no effect of hyperglycemia on free fatty acid metabolism could be detected in humans.