Free Fatty Acid Levels and Body Fat Mass

Relationship Between Body Fat Mass and Free Fatty Acid Kinetics in Men and Women  
{Hat tip MM, thanks!}

Alterations in free fatty acid (FFA) metabolism are involved in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular disease (1,2). Excessive plasma FFA availability impairs the ability of insulin to suppress hepatic glucose production and to increase skeletal muscle glucose disposal (1,3). Plasma FFAs are also the primary source of fatty acids for hepatic very low-density lipoprotein–triglyceride (TG) production (4,5,6,7), and plasma very low-density lipoprotein–TG concentration is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease (8,9). In addition, the accumulation of intracellular fatty acid metabolites stimulates the production of inflammatory proteins (10), which can also contribute to insulin resistance and atherosclerosis (1). Therefore, understanding the factors that affect FFA metabolism has important physiological and clinical implications.

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