Mingxin Leng,1 Xiaoxuan Guo,2 Chongyang Wei,1 Yanju Zhang,3 Zhouhuiling Li,3 Xinying Gao,3 Dangmin Hou,3 Chunjun Li1,4 

1Graduate School, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 3Graduate School, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 4Health Management Center, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Nankai University Affiliated Hospital, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Chunjun Li, Health Management Center, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Nankai University Affiliated Hospital, No. 190 of Jieyuan Road, Hongqiao District, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-22-13752090635, Email li_chunjun@126.com

Background: Hyperinsulinemia (HI) is a common endocrine metabolic disorder in obesity and is closely associated with cardiovascular disease.
Aim: This study aims to investigate the effects of progressive weight reduction on HI and cardiovascular risk factors.
Methods: We enrolled 68 patients with overweight or obesity. Body composition assessments, clinical indicator sampling and a 75g-oral glucose tolerance test were conducted at baseline and after 12-month weight loss to assess HI and insulin sensitivity. And the people were divided into four groups based on the percent of weight loss (< 10%, ~20%, ~30%, > 30%) to study the remission of HI and changes in body composition and cardiovascular risk factors.
Results: A total of 66 participants were studied at the end. Progressive weight loss significantly reduced plasma glucose and insulin (P< 0.001, P for trend< 0.001) and did not progressively reduce cardiovascular risk factors (P for trend< 0.001). The greater the percentage of weight loss, the greater the remission rate of insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia (P for trend< 0.001), which reaches 100% when weight loss exceeds 30%. After adjusting for factors such as age, gender, and medication usage, remission of HI was still associated with progressive weight loss.
Conclusion: With progressive weight loss, people with overweight or obesity experienced further improvements in glycemic outcomes, body compositions, HI and insulin resistance.

Keywords: hyperinsulinemia, obesity, Insulin resistance, weight loss, body composition