Surrogate measures of insulin sensitivity when compared to euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp studies in Asian Indian men without diabetes

Aim Fasting surrogate measures of insulin sensitivity are increasingly used in research and clinical practice. To assess the reliability of these measures, we aimed to evaluate multiple fasting surrogate measures simultaneously in non-diabetic subjects in comparison with the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp study. Methods Sixteen normoglycemic male South Indian subjects were studied. After an overnight fast, blood samples were collected for glucose, insulin and lipid profile measurements, and stepped euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp studies were performed on all subjects. Steady state glucose infusion rates (M value) during low and high insulin phases of the clamp were calculated. Correlation of M value with surrogate markers of insulin sensitivity was performed. Predictive accuracy of surrogate indices was measured in terms of Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and leave-one-out cross-validation-type RMSE of prediction using a calibration model. Results M values showed a strong and significant correlation (p < 0.01) with the following surrogate markers: Fasting insulin (r = - 0.714), Fasting glucose to insulin ratio (FGIR, r = 0.747) and Raynaud index (r = 0.714). FGIR had a significantly lower RMSE when compared with HOMA-IR and QUICKI. Conclusions Among the surrogate measures, FGIR had the strongest correlation with M values. FGIR was also the most accurate surrogate measure, as assessed by the calibration model.