Hepatic Insulin Resistance Is Not Pathway Selective in Humans With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
<b>Objective</b>: Both glucose and triglyceride production are increased in Type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). For decades, the leading hypothesis to explain these paradoxical observations has been selective hepatic insulin resistance, wherein insulin drives <i>de novo</i> lipogenesis (DNL), while failing to suppress glucose production. Here, we aimed to test this hypothesis in humans. <p><b>Research Design and Methods</b>: We recruited obese subjects who met criteria for bariatric surgery with (n=16) or without (n=15) NAFLD and assessed: i) insulin-mediated regulation of hepatic and peripheral glucose metabolism using hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps with [6,6-<sup>2</sup>H<sub>2</sub>]glucose, ii) fasting and carbohydrate-driven hepatic DNL using deuterated water (<sup>2</sup>H<sub>2</sub>O), and iii) hepatocellular insulin signaling in liver biopsies collected during bariatric surgery.</p> <p><b>Results</b>: As compared with subjects without NAFLD, subjects with NAFLD demonstrated impaired insulin-mediated suppression of glucose production and attenuated -not increased- glucose-stimulated/high-insulin lipogenesis. Fructose-stimulated/low-insulin lipogenesis was intact. Hepatocellular insulin signaling, assessed for the first time in humans, exhibited a proximal block in insulin-resistant subjects: signaling was attenuated from the level of the insulin receptor through both glucose <i>and</i> lipogenesis pathways. The carbohydrate-regulated lipogenic transcription factor <i>ChREBP</i> was increased in subjects with NAFLD. </p> <b>Conclusions</b>: Acute increases in lipogenesis in humans with NAFLD are not explained by altered molecular regulation of lipogenesis through a paradoxical increase in lipogenic insulin action; rather, increases in lipogenic substrate availability may be the key. <a></a>