Objective：To investigate the changes of free fatty acid in type 2 diabetic (T2DM) patients after gastric bypass surgery.
Methods：The parameters including free fatty acid (FFA), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), 2-hour postprandial plasma glucose (PPG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C), and body mass index (BMI) were measured in 20 patients with type 2 diabetes before, and 3 and 6 months after surgery, and 20 cases of healthy subjects were used as control.
Results：Of the T2DM patients, 15 cases achieved complete remission, 3 cases obtained partial remission, and 2 cases had no remission. The values of FFA, HOMA-IR, FPG, PPG, and HbA1C of the T2DM patients were significantly higher than those of the healthy subjects before operation. The values of FFA and HOMA-IR in the T2DM patients decreased progressively from 3 to 6 months after surgery and all were significantly lower than those before operation (both P＜0.01). FPG, PPG and HbA1C were all decreased significantly after surgery (all P＜0.01). The correlation coefficients of FFA and HOMA-IR in the T2DM patients before, and 3 and 6 months after surgery were 0.58 (P＜0.01), 0.46 (P＜0.05) and 0.48 (P＜0.05), respectively.
Conclusions：Gastric bypass surgery can reduce the serum FFA level of T2DM patients and thereby lessen their insulin resistance. It may be one of the mechanisms of the therapeutic effect of gastric bypass on T2DM patients.