Effect of diacylglycerol on postprandial lipid metabolism in non-diabetic subjects with and without insulin resistance

The effects of diacylglycerol ingestion on postprandial lipid metabolism in non-diabetic subjects with and without insulin resistance were investigated. This was single dose ingestion study, in a double blind cross over manner and postprandial lipid concentrations were compared between diacylglycerol oil (DAG) and triacylglycerol oil (TAG) ingestion. The subjects were 18 male volunteers and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-R) was used to classify them into insulin sensitive (IS, n = 10, HOMA-R < 2.0) and insulin resistant (IR, n = 8, HOMA-R ≥ 2.0) groups. Fasting serum triglycerides (TG) and remnant-like particle cholesterol (RLP-C) correlated with HOMA-R and were significantly higher in the IR as compared to the IS group. Postprandial increments of TG and RLP-C after DAG ingestion were significantly lower as compared to those after TAG ingestion. In a case of TAG ingestion, their increments positively correlated with HOMA-R and were significantly higher in the IR as compared with the IS group. In contrast, their increments remained constant after DAG ingestion in both groups. In the IR group, the postprandial lipidemia were reduced after DAG ingestion to about half of those after TAG ingestion. In conclusion, DAG reduced postprandial lipidemia especially in subjects with insulin resistance and may be beneficial in preventing atherosclerosis and related diseases.