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A blood test that measures fat in the serum may help predict whether weight loss will help manage a prediabetes patient’s blood sugar levels, according to a new study.
Pre-diabetics are people who have higher than normal blood sugar levels but do not yet qualify as diabetic.
Analyzing fats in blood serum, researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia found that while weight loss through diet had a significant effect on many types of lipids (fats), changes in different fats affected blood sugar in different ways.
For example, changes in fasting blood sugar were linked to certain sphingolipids (a type of fat found in the outer layer of cells), while changes in HbA1c, insulin and insulin resistance were linked to other fats in the blood serum.
“Six baseline bioactive sphingolipids primarily predicted changes in fasting plasma glucose. In addition, several baseline lipid species, primarily diacylglycerols and triglycerides, were predictive of clinical changes in hemoglobin A1c, insulin, and HOMA-IR (homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance),” the authors wrote.
Pre-diabetic patients are usually advised to lose weight through a reduced-energy diet – low in carbohydrates, high in fibre – to help bring blood sugar levels back to normal levels.
However, researchers said that more than half of these individuals’ blood sugar levels do not become normal.
They found that measuring serum levels of certain fats before weight loss could predict what kind of blood sugar improvements would occur after weight loss. were published In The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,
“Our findings suggest that certain fats in the blood can tell us a lot about a person’s chances of improving blood sugar levels through weight loss,” said lead author Yanfei (Jacob) Qu, of the university’s Centenary Institute.
For the study, blood serum samples from 104 pre-diabetic participants were analysed, before and after starting a low-energy diet for eight weeks. Over this period, the individuals lost at least eight per cent of their body weight.
Lipidomics – the use of AI-based technology to study changes in hundreds of different lipids – was used to analyse the serum samples.
“(These findings) could lead to important changes in our approach to diabetes prevention, allowing us to personalize treatment plans for people who are less likely to benefit from standard dietary recommendations,” Qi said.
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