当前位置: 首页 > 医学版 > 期刊论文 > 内科学 > 糖尿病学杂志 > 2005年 > 第7期 > 正文
编号:11256652
Assessing the Predictive Accuracy of QUICKI as a Surrogate Index for Insulin Sensitivity Using a Calibration Model
     the Diabetes Unit, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

    ABSTRACT

    The quantitative insulin-sensitivity check index (QUICKI) has an excellent linear correlation with the glucose clamp index of insulin sensitivity (SIClamp) that is better than that of many other surrogate indexes. However, correlation between a surrogate and reference standard may improve as variability between subjects in a cohort increases (i.e., with an increased range of values). Correlation may be excellent even when prediction of reference values by the surrogate is poor. Thus, it is important to evaluate the ability of QUICKI to accurately predict insulin sensitivity as determined by the reference glucose clamp method. In the present study, we used a calibration model to compare the ability of QUICKI and other simple surrogates to predict SIClamp. Predictive accuracy was evaluated by both root mean squared error of prediction as well as a more robust leave-one-out cross-validationeCtype root mean squared error of prediction (CVPE). Based on data from 116 glucose clamps obtained from nonobese, obese, type 2 diabetic, and hypertensive subjects, we found that QUICKI and log (homeostasis model assessment [HOMA]) were both excellent at predicting SIClamp (CVPE = 1.45 and 1.51, respectively) and significantly better than HOMA, 1/HOMA, and fasting insulin (CVPE = 3.17, P < 0.001; 1.67, P < 0.02; and 2.85, P < 0.001, respectively). QUICKI and log(HOMA) also had the narrowest distribution of residuals (measured SIClamp eC predicted SIClamp). In a subset of subjects (n = 78) who also underwent a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test with minimal model analysis, QUICKI was significantly better than the minimal model index of insulin sensitivity (SIMM) at predicting SIClamp (CVPE = 1.54 vs. 1.98, P = 0.001). We conclude that QUICKI and log(HOMA) are among the most accurate surrogate indexes for determining insulin sensitivity in humans.

    Insulin resistance contributes significantly to the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes and is a hallmark of obesity, dyslipidemias, hypertension, and other components of the metabolic syndrome (rev. in 1,2). Some therapies for these conditions, including thiazoladinediones, ACE inhibitors, statins, weight reduction, and exercise, significantly improve insulin sensitivity (3eC8). Thus, an accurate method for easily evaluating insulin sensitivity and following changes after therapeutic intervention is needed for epidemiological studies, clinical investigations, and clinical practice. The hyperinsulinemic- euglycemic glucose clamp is the reference method for quantifying insulin sensitivity in humans because it directly measures effects of insulin to promote glucose utilization under steady-state conditions in vivo (9). However, the glucose clamp is a complicated, labor-intensive procedure best suited for small research studies that is difficult to apply in either large-scale investigations or clinical practice. Therefore, a number of surrogate indexes for insulin sensitivity or insulin resistance have been developed. The simplest indexes are derived from fasting glucose and/or insulin levels and include fasting insulin and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) (10eC12). There are also several insulin sensitivity indexes based on oral glucose tolerance tests that require slightly more effort (13eC15). In addition, some surrogate indexes are based on glucose and insulin infusion protocols of various complexity (16). This includes the frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIVGTT) with minimal model analysis that requires nearly as much effort as the glucose clamp (17,18).

    Recently, we developed the quantitative insulin-sensitivity check index (QUICKI) that is determined by a mathematical transformation of fasting glucose and fasting insulin levels (19). In our initial validation studies in nonobese, obese, diabetic, and hypertensive subjects, QUICKI had a significantly better linear correlation with the reference glucose clamp method (SIClamp) than other surrogates including HOMA and the minimal model insulin sensitivity index SIMM (19,20,21). In addition, test characteristics of QUICKI including coefficient of variation and discriminant ratio are significantly better than other simple surrogate indexes and comparable with those of the glucose clamp (20). In a number of relevant clinical conditions including type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes, hypertension, polycystic ovary syndrome, and liver disease, QUICKI can appropriately follow changes in insulin sensitivity after various therapeutic interventions when compared directly with glucose clamp results (8,20eC23). Moreover, a large meta-analysis of insulin-resistant subjects demonstrated that QUICKI is among the best surrogate indexes in terms of predictive power for the onset of diabetes (11). In that study, QUICKI was the best fasting index for predicting the onset of diabetes, although other indexes based on glucose tolerance tests were slightly superior in this regard (11).

    To date, the best direct validation studies of simple surrogate indexes of insulin sensitivity, including QUICKI, were based on examining correlations with the reference glucose clamp method (19eC21,24eC27). However, if variability in insulin sensitivity between subjects is large in a given cohort, the linear correlation between surrogate index and "gold standard" may be excellent even when prediction of true values by the surrogate is poor. Therefore, an important component of validation for a surrogate index is evaluation of its predictive accuracy. In the present study, we examined the ability of QUICKI and other surrogates to predict SIClamp by regressing SIClamp on each surrogate index in a large group of subjects and fitting these data to a calibration model.

    RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

    We used data from 110 subjects ranging in age from 19 to 64 years old who underwent a hyperinsulinemic-isoglycemic glucose clamp at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. Six subjects underwent two separate glucose clamps performed at least 10 months apart. Thus, the total number of glucose clamp studies used in our analysis was 116. We also used data from a subset of 78 subjects who underwent an insulin-modified FSIVGTT (28) in addition to the glucose clamp. Data from some of these subjects have been previously reported (19,21). Among the 110 subjects, there were 57 Caucasians, 40 African Americans, 4 Hispanics, and 9 Asians. Nonobese subjects had a BMI < 30 kg/m2, whereas subjects with BMI 30 were considered obese. Diabetic subjects met the American Diabetes Association criteria for type 2 diabetes (29). Diabetic and hypertensive subjects were studied after their antidiabetes and antihypertensive medication was discontinued for at least 1 week. Diabetic patients whose fasting blood glucose exceeded 300 mg/dl when not taking medication were given medication again and excluded from further study. Hypertensive subjects whose blood pressure exceeded 170/109 mmHg when not taking their medication were given the medication again and excluded from further study. Subjects with thyroid, liver, kidney, or pulmonary disease as well as end-organ damage were excluded from this study. Subjects with a positive pregnancy test were also excluded. Informed consent was obtained from each subject. All clinical studies were approved by the Institutional Review Board of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and the procedures followed were in accordance with institutional guidelines.

    Hyperinsulinemic-isoglycemic glucose clamp.

    The clamp studies were conducted as previously described (19). All studies were performed in the Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health beginning at 8:30 A.M. after an overnight fast of at least 10 h. An insulin solution (Humulin; Eli Lilly) was infused at a rate of 120 mU · meC2 · mineC1 for 4 h using a calibrated syringe pump (model A-99; Razel Industries, Stamford, CT). A solution of potassium phosphate was also infused at the same time (0.23 mEq · kgeC1 · heC1) to prevent hypokalemia. Blood glucose concentrations were measured at the bedside every 5eC10 min using a glucose analyzer (YSI 2700 Select; YSI, Yellow Springs, OH), and an infusion of 20% dextrose was adjusted to maintain the blood glucose concentration at the fasting level. Blood samples were also collected every 20eC30 min for measuring plasma insulin concentrations (DPC Immulite 2000; Diagnostic Products, Los Angeles, CA). The steady-state period of the clamp was defined as a 60-min period (1eC2 h after the beginning of the insulin infusion) where the coefficient of variation for blood glucose, plasma insulin, and glucose infusion rate was <5%. Mean values during the steady-state period were used to calculate SIClamp. The glucose clampeCderived index of insulin sensitivity (SIClamp) was defined as M/(G x I) corrected for body weight, where M is the steady-state glucose infusion rate (milligram per minute), G is steady-state blood glucose concentrations (milligrams per decaliter), and I is the difference between basal and steady-state plasma insulin concentrations (microunits per milliliter).

    FSIVGTT and minimal model analysis.

    The studies of insulin-modified FSIVGTT were carried out in the Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health beginning at 8:30 A.M. after an overnight fast as previously described (19). Briefly, a bolus of glucose (0.3 g/kg) was infused intravenously over 2 min. Twenty minutes after initiation of the glucose bolus, an intravenous infusion of insulin (4 mU · kgeC1 · mineC1 regular Humulin) was given for 5 min. Blood samples were collected for blood glucose and plasma insulin determinations. A total of 30 blood samples were drawn over 3 h as previously described (19). Data were subjected to minimal model analysis using the computer program MINMOD (generous gift from R.N. Bergman) to calculate the minimal model index of insulin sensitivity (SIMM) (17).

    QUICKI.

    QUICKI was calculated as previously defined from fasting glucose and insulin values (19). QUICKI = 1/[log(I0) + log(G0)], where I0 is fasting insulin (microunits per milliliter) and G0 is fasting glucose (milligrams per decaliter). Because QUICKI is the reciprocal of the log-transformed product of fasting glucose and insulin, it is a dimensionless index without units.

    HOMA.

    HOMA was calculated as G0 (mmol/l) x I0 (e蘒/ml)/22.5 (10).

    Calibration model.

    Calibration is inverse regression (30). For the model y = f (x;) + , x is the independent variable, y is the dependent variable, is an unknown parameter, and is the random error, using an estimated model y = f (x;) to predict a new y for a given x is regression. Conversely, predicting a new x for a given y is calibration. If x values are prespecified as part of an experimental design, this is called classical or controlled calibration. If both x and y are random, the process is called random calibration. Because both QUICKI and the SIClamp are measured with error from a patient population, random calibration is the more appropriate method to use. In random calibration, there is no difficulty in specifying the conditional distribution of x given y, so that random calibration is similar to regression in prediction (e.g., just regress SIClamp on QUICKI). Here, we fitted a calibration model xi = + yi + i, where xi is the SIClamp, yi is the surrogate index, and i is the random error for the ith subject. It was assumed that the random error had Gaussian distribution with mean = 0 and a constant variance. Even though SIClamp is measured with error, it was assumed for our model that the measurement error of SIClamp (determined from a robust, direct, and data-intensive protocol) is very small relative to that of simple surrogates determined from single fasting measurements (e.g., QUICKI). Therefore, to simplify the analysis, we neglected the measurement error for SIClamp in our calibration model. For each surrogate index, two types of predicted residuals were considered. The first type of residual is the difference between the measured SIClamp (xi, for the ith subject) and the fitted SIClamp (i = a + yi). That is, the residual ei = xi eC i, is derived from the calibration model with all subjects included in the estimation of model parameters and . The second type of residual is a cross-validation type predicted residual e(i) = xi eC (i), where xi is still the measured SIClamp, but (i) = a + y(i) is the predicted SIClamp from the calibration model that excludes the ith subject, and the subscript (i) means "with the ith subject deleted." Then, two useful criterion functions were used for the evaluation of prediction accuracy: square root of the mean squared error of prediction {RMSE = [ei2/(n eC 2)]1/2} and leave-one-out cross-validationeCtype root mean squared error of prediction {CVPE = [e(i)2/n]1/2}. Smaller values of RMSE and CVPE indicate better prediction. However, RMSE is likely to underestimate prediction errors, and CVPE is more robust.

    Boxplots.

    The distribution of residuals for each surrogate index was displayed with a boxplot. This is a graphical representation of the bulk of the data where the lower and upper edges of the box represent the first and third quartiles, respectively. The median is designated by a horizontal line segment inside the rectangle. The "whiskers" extend vertical lines from the center of each edge of the box to the most extreme data values that are no farther than 1.5 x interquartile range (IQR) (the third quartile minus the first quartile) from each edge. All points that are more extreme than the "whiskers" identify potential outliers and are plotted separately on the graph.

    Statistical analysis.

    Student’s t tests were used to compare different subgroups of subjects with respect to clinical characteristics when appropriate. To compare the predictive accuracy of QUICKI and other surrogates in terms of CVPE and RMSE, we performed hypothesis testing with the one-sided alternative hypothesis that QUICKI had a smaller RMSE or CVPE than another surrogate using a Bootstrap percentile method with 60,000 replications performed for each comparison (31). The bootstrap method is appropriate because the RMSEs (or CVPEs) corresponding to QUICKI and other surrogates were derived from the same group of subjects and thus correlated. The P values calculated for comparison of RMSE and CVPE were for pairwise comparisons. For example, when QUICKI and HOMA were compared with respect to the CVPE based on the 116 patients, a bootstrap percentile method with 60,000 replications was used to get a sample of 60,000 differences in CVPE [CVPE (HOMA) eC CVPE (QUICKI)], and then a P value for one-sided superiority testing was estimated as the proportion of the bootstrap replications less than zero. One-sided hypothesis testing was used because multiple previous studies have demonstrated the superiority of QUICKI as a surrogate index of insulin sensitivity from a variety of perspectives supporting an a priori expectation. P < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. The software used for statistical analysis and the random calibration model was the SAS System V8 and Resampling Stats 5.0.2.

    RESULTS

    The clinical characteristics of our study subjects are shown in Table 1 for the entire cohort and in Table 2 for the subset of 78 subjects who also underwent insulin-modified FSIVGTT with minimal model analysis. Clinical characteristics for nonobese, obese, diabetic, and hypertensive subgroups were similar between the entire cohort and the subset. The mean BMI, fasting insulin, total cholesterol, and LDL were all significantly higher in the obese, diabetic, and hypertensive subjects when compared with the healthy, nonobese subjects. Note that none of the subjects in the nonobese, obese, and hypertensive groups had diabetes.

    Determinations of insulin sensitivity.

    Mean SIClamp, QUICKI, HOMA, log(HOMA), 1/HOMA, and fasting insulin for each subset of our entire cohort were calculated from data obtained during the hyperinsulinemic-isoglycemic glucose clamp as described in RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS (Table 3). During the glucose clamp, steady-state mean blood glucose levels were 85 ± 2, 86 ± 3, 159 ± 7, and 83 ± 2 mg/dl for nonobese, obese, diabetic, and hypertensive subjects, respectively. The steady-state mean plasma insulin levels were 272 ± 24 (nonobese), 334 ± 22 (obese), 280 ± 10 (diabetic), and 302 ± 20 e蘒/ml (hypertensive). Mean glucose infusion rates at steady state were 870 ± 50 (nonobese), 802 ± 64 (obese), 798 ± 54 (diabetic), and 800 ± 55 mg/min (hypertensive). As determined by SIClamp, diabetic subjects were the most insulin resistant, followed by obese subjects and hypertensive subjects. As expected, nonobese subjects were the most insulin sensitive (Table 3). All of the simple surrogate indexes of insulin sensitivity, except for fasting insulin, also determined an identical rank order of insulin sensitivity. The degree of insulin resistance in the presence of obesity in the diabetic and hypertensive groups tended to be higher when compared with nonobese diabetic and hypertensive subjects, respectively. However, these tendencies as determined by SIClamp did not achieve statistical significance (data not shown). The distribution of values for SIClamp in our cohort is shown in Fig. 1A.

    In the subset of 78 subjects who underwent FSIVGTT, minimal model analysis was used to generate SIMM (Table 4). As evaluated by SIClamp, the same rank order of insulin sensitivity among disease groups observed in the entire cohort was also maintained in the subset of 78 subjects (Table 4). In this subset, as with the entire cohort, rank order of insulin sensitivity determined by QUICKI, HOMA, log(HOMA), and 1/HOMA agreed with SIClamp. Of note, a different rank order of insulin sensitivity was determined by both SIMM and fasting insulin. These results are consistent with our previous studies, demonstrating that the correlation between SIClamp and QUICKI or log(HOMA) is substantially and significantly better than that between SIClamp and SIMM (19,21). The distribution of values for SIClamp in the subset of 78 subjects is shown in Fig. 1B.

    Calibration model analysis.

    As described in RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS, we regressed measured SIClamp for each subject on each surrogate index and fitted these data to a calibration model. This determined model parameters and for each surrogate index in the entire cohort (116 glucose clamps) as well as for the subset of 78 subjects who also underwent FSIVGTT (Table 5). We then used the fitted calibration model (using leave-one-out cross-validation analysis) to generate plots of the values for predicted SIClamp by each surrogate index as a function of the measured SIClamp determined from the actual glucose clamp results in our entire cohort (Figure 2). If a surrogate index perfectly predicted SIClamp, results for each subject would fall on a straight line with a slope of 1 and a y-intercept of 0. By inspection, it is clear that QUICKI and log(HOMA) generated more accurate predictions of SIClamp (closer to the ideal line) than HOMA, 1/HOMA, or fasting insulin. In addition, a linear least-squares fit between predicted SIClamp and measured SIClamp derived from QUICKI and log(HOMA) data also had correlation coefficients (r = 0.75 and 0.73, respectively) that were significantly higher than HOMA, 1/HOMA, and fasting insulin (r = 0.11, 0.66, and 0.15, respectively). This is important because it is possible that a surrogate index may have systematic errors that result in inaccuracy but still have significant positive predictive power if it can correctly rank the degree of insulin sensitivity. The fact that the linear correlation of predicted SIClamp versus measured SIClamp was best for QUICKI and log(HOMA) suggests that these surrogates are also likely to have the best predictive power for outcomes related to insulin sensitivity. When we generated data from the calibration model using RMSE analysis, we obtained results similar to those shown in Fig. 2 (data not shown). For the subset of 78 subjects who underwent FSIVGTT, we plotted predicted SIClamp (determined by leave-one-out cross-validation analysis) as a function of measured SIClamp for both QUICKI and the minimal model SIMM (Fig. 3). Results from QUICKI were closer to ideal than results from SIMM. In addition, the linear correlation between predicted SIClamp and measured SIClamp was significantly higher for QUICKI than for SIMM (r = 0.75 vs. 0.53).

    To quantitatively assess predictive accuracy for each surrogate index, residuals (measured SIClamp eC predicted SIClamp) generated from random calibration analysis were used to calculate the CVPE and RMSE as described in RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS. For the entire cohort, QUICKI and log(HOMA) had comparable CVPEs that were significantly smaller than HOMA, 1/HOMA, and fasting insulin (Table 6). Similar results were observed for the less robust RMSE. For the subset of 78 subjects who underwent FSIVGTT, SIMM had the largest CVPE and RMSE, indicating that the minimal model had the least predictive accuracy. QUICKI and log(HOMA) had the smallest CVPE and RMSE (Table 7). The P values shown for comparison of RMSE and CVPE are for pairwise comparisons. For example, when QUICKI and HOMA were compared with respect to the CVPE based on the 116 patients, a bootstrap percentile method with 60,000 replications was used to get a sample of 60,000 differences in CVPE [CVPE (HOMA) eC CVPE (QUICKI)], and then a P value for one-sided superiority testing was estimated as the proportion of the bootstrap replications less than zero. It is possible that the multiple comparisons could inflate the risk of finding small P values just by chance. We did not perform any adjustment for multiple comparisons because this is an exploratory study rather than a confirmatory study. To exclude the presence of leverage and influential points, we performed an analysis of our data to evaluate Cook’s distance for each subject. We found large values for Cook’s distance only for subject 52 (of 116) in the RMSE analysis of HOMA versus SIClamp, log(HOMA) versus SIClamp, and fasting insulin versus SIClamp. For all other patients in all other comparisons, the Cook’s distance was much smaller than 1. Therefore, we repeated our analyses excluding subject 52. The results of these analyses were similar to those of the original analyses. That is, QUICKI and log(HOMA) had the smallest RMSEs that were significantly smaller than HOMA, 1/HOMA, and fasting insulin (data not shown).

    To further evaluate the predictive accuracy of various surrogate indexes, we used boxplots to display the distribution of residuals. For the entire cohort, QUICKI and log(HOMA) had the narrowest distribution of residuals with a median closer to zero, narrower IQR, and fewer outliers with smaller magnitude when compared with HOMA, 1/HOMA, or fasting insulin (Fig. 4A). In the subset of 78 subjects who underwent FSIVGTT, QUICKI also had a more favorable distribution of residuals than SIMM (Fig. 4B). As another way to display this data, we plotted residuals versus the predicted SIClamp (from leave-one-out cross-validation analysis for each surrogate index) (Fig. 5). If a surrogate index predicts SIClamp well, the residuals should be close to zero with a random pattern. With this analysis, QUICKI, log(HOMA), and 1/HOMA had similar distributions of residuals whereas the residuals for HOMA and fasting insulin tended to increase more with an increase in predicted SIClamp. The plot of residuals versus predicted SIClamp for QUICKI and SIMM for the 78 subjects who underwent FSIVGTT is shown in Fig. 6.

    DISCUSSION

    The incidence and prevalence of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome are increasing at an alarming rate in the U.S. and around the world. Insulin resistance is a key pathophysiological marker for all of these major public health problems. Therefore, developing simple, reliable, and accurate methods for quantifying insulin sensitivity in humans is an important goal. The best previous studies evaluating simple surrogate indexes of insulin sensitivity such as QUICKI and HOMA examined the correlation between a surrogate index and the reference standard glucose clamp estimate of insulin sensitivity (10,19eC21,24,25,32eC36). Some studies have also evaluated the positive predictive power of simple surrogates for some clinical outcome such as the onset of diabetes or carotid artery intima-media thickness (11,37). In the present study, we evaluated, for the first time the predictive accuracy of various surrogate indexes of insulin sensitivity/resistance using a calibration model.

    Our entire cohort was relatively large (116 glucose clamp studies) and contained both normal healthy subjects and subjects with obesity, essential hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. The metabolic and hemodynamic characteristics of these subjects were as expected. In particular, subjects with hypertension, obesity, and diabetes were significantly insulin resistant on average. Note that subjects in the nonobese, obese, and hypertensive groups did not have diabetes. This is important because QUICKI and HOMA indexes include glucose in their calculation, and it is possible that these indexes may reflect glucose tolerance as well as insulin resistance. However, this seems unlikely because both QUICKI and HOMA use fasting glucose levels in their calculations and fasting glucose levels are steady-state levels that are not a reflection of glucose utilization after a glucose load. The rank order of insulin resistance for these groups determined by the reference glucose clamp method was also determined by QUICKI, log(HOMA), HOMA, and 1/HOMA but not by fasting insulin or SIMM. This crude comparison suggests that QUICKI and HOMA (and its various transformations) are superior to fasting insulin and the minimal model in terms of positive predictive power. These results also underscore the importance of comparing surrogate indexes with a reference standard, because comparisons with SIMM alone may lead to erroneous conclusions (38,39,40,41). It is also interesting to note that the average values obtained for SIMM in most patient subgroups (nonobese, obese, and hypertensive) were less than the average values for SIClamp (Table 4). This is consistent with our previous findings that SIMM systematically underestimates SIClamp (42). This was not true for the diabetic subjects because some diabetic subjects had to be excluded because of well-known artifacts in minimal model analysis of subjects with inadequate insulin secretion leading to negative values for SIMM (19). It is also important to note that all indexes of insulin sensitivity including those based on fasting glucose and insulin, oral glucose tolerance tests, intravenous glucose tolerance tests, and the glucose clamp depend, in part, on measuring insulin levels. Because of significant laboratory-to-laboratory variability in insulin determinations and the lack of standardization in insulin assays, it is not possible at this time to determine universal cutoffs that define insulin resistance using QUICKI or any other method of determining insulin sensitivity that depends on insulin measurements.

    The distribution of values for insulin sensitivity in our cohort as determined by SIClamp covered a wide range between 1 and 11. However, these values were not evenly distributed across the entire range. The bulk of the subjects had values between 1 and 5 for both the entire cohort and the subset of subjects who also underwent FSIVGTT. It is possible that this uneven distribution may bias our calibration analysis. However, because the primary utility of QUICKI and other surrogate indexes of insulin sensitivity is to identify and characterize subjects with insulin resistance, the overrepresentation of insulin-resistant subjects in our cohort should not significantly affect the reliability of our calibration analysis results with respect to accuracy in insulin-resistant subjects. In addition, it is likely that the analysis from our entire cohort of 116 subjects is more reliable than that from the subset of 78 subjects simply because more data are included for the calibration analysis.

    Because previous studies demonstrated a linear relationship between SIClamp and QUICKI or SIMM (19,21,43), we chose a standard calibration model to evaluate the predictive accuracy of various simple surrogate indexes of insulin sensitivity. This model was sufficient to demonstrate the predictive accuracy of QUICKI and log(HOMA). When an expensive or laborious but accurate measurement method is replaced by an inexpensive and quick but indirect method, application of a calibration model is particularly appropriate for validating the surrogate index (30). Predictive accuracy was assessed by two criterion functions, a commonly used RMSE and a so-called "leave-one-out" CVPE. CVPE is more robust than RMSE because CVPE uses an estimate that excludes the ith subject when predicting results for the ith subject. This reflects more closely a clinical situation in which data for each new patient is based on a model obtained from previous patients. CVPE also handles extremes in data in a more rigorous fashion and has less tendency to underestimate error than RMSE. In our study, the values for CVPE and RMSE were similar, suggesting that there were no extreme outliers in our dataset that were biasing our results. When we excluded the only subject with a large value for Cook’s distance and repeated our calibration analysis, results were similar to the original analysis. That is, QUICKI and log(HOMA) had the smallest RMSEs that were significantly better than HOMA, 1/HOMA, and fasting insulin. Among the simple surrogate indexes tested here, QUICKI and log(HOMA) were the most accurate in predicting SIClamp and had significantly lower CVPE and RMSE than other simple surrogates. Of note, in the subset of 78 subjects who also underwent FSIVGTT, minimal model analysis (SIMM) had the worst predictive accuracy for SIClamp with the highest CVPE and RMSE. Consistent with these findings, QUICKI and log(HOMA) clearly had the narrowest and most favorable distribution of residuals. The plots of residuals versus predicted SIClamp are useful to explore features of the calibration model. A few relatively large residuals may be an indication of outliers (i.e., subjects for whom the model is somehow inappropriate). An increase in the magnitude of residuals as a function of the magnitude of predicted SIClamp may indicate nonconstant residual variance or heterogeneity of subjects. Our normal subjects tended to have larger residuals that were more spread out, suggesting that they may have more heterogeneity in their determinants of insulin sensitivity than other subgroups. Our linear calibration model assumes that the standard deviation for SIClamp is constant. If there is large variability in the standard deviation for SIClamp, then other calibration models may be more appropriate. In addition, the fact that the more extreme residuals were mostly positive values may reflect a bias in the calibration results because our cohort did not include large numbers of subjects who were very insulin sensitive.

    It is important to note that in our subset of 78 subjects, there were only 11 with diabetes. Because changes in glucose do not contribute much to any of the other surrogate indexes in nondiabetic subjects, this helps to explain why fasting insulin performed relatively better in the subset of 78 subjects than it did in the entire cohort of 116 subjects. The relative paucity of diabetic subjects in this subset also helps to explain why the calibration model parameter changed by approximately fourfold when the value of determined from the entire cohort is compared with value determined from the subset.

    Previous studies have documented excellent linear correlation between QUICKI and the reference standard glucose clamp in a variety of insulin-resistant diseases including type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, gestational diabetes, and polycystic ovary syndrome (8,19eC24,26,27,44). In addition, test characteristics of QUICKI and log(HOMA) including coefficient of variation and discriminant ratio are comparable with those of the glucose clamp and superior to other simple surrogates (20). Moreover, QUICKI can appropriately follow changes in insulin sensitivity after various therapeutic interventions (8,20eC23). Taken together with the superior predictive accuracy of QUICKI demonstrated in the present study, these findings help to explain why QUICKI is among the best simple surrogate indexes of insulin sensitivity for predicting the onset of diabetes and increased carotid artery intima-media thickening (11,37). However, future studies are required to investigate whether the superior accuracy of QUICKI demonstrated in the present study translates into a significant clinical benefit.

    In summary, using a random calibration model in a relatively large cohort consisting of normal, obese, hypertensive, and diabetic subjects, we demonstrated that QUICKI and log(HOMA) are superior to other simple surrogates of insulin sensitivity in accurately predicting insulin sensitivity determined by the reference SIClamp. We conclude that QUICKI and log(HOMA) are among the most accurate and useful surrogate indexes for determining insulin sensitivity in humans.

    CVPE, cross-validationeCtype root mean squared error of prediction; FSIVGTT, frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test; HOMA, homeostasis model assessment; QUICKI, quantitative insulin-sensitivity check index; RMSE, square root of the mean squared error of prediction

    REFERENCES

    Reaven G, Abbasi F, McLaughlin T: Obesity, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular disease. Recent Prog Horm Res59 :207 eC223,2004

    Grundy SM, Brewer HB Jr, Cleeman JI, Smith SC Jr, Lenfant C: Definition of metabolic syndrome: Report of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/American Heart Association conference on scientific issues related to definition. Circulation109 :433 eC438,2004

    Olefsky JM, Saltiel AR: PPAR and the treatment of insulin resistance. Trends Endocrinol Metab11 :362 eC368,2000

    Watkins LL, Sherwood A, Feinglos M, Hinderliter A, Babyak M, Gullette E, Waugh R, Blumenthal JA: Effects of exercise and weight loss on cardiac risk factors associated with syndrome X. Arch Intern Med163 :1889 eC1895,2003

    McFarlane SI, Kumar A, Sowers JR: Mechanisms by which angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Am J Cardiol91 :30H eC37H,2003

    Paniagua JA, Lopez-Miranda J, Escribano A, Berral FJ, Marin C, Bravo D, Paz-Rojas E, Gomez P, Barcos M, Moreno JA, Perez-Jimenez F: Cerivastatin improves insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion in early-state obese type 2 diabetes. Diabetes51 :2596 eC2603,2002

    Raji A, Seely EW, Bekins SA, Williams GH, Simonson DC: Rosiglitazone improves insulin sensitivity and lowers blood pressure in hypertensive patients. Diabetes Care26 :172 eC178,2003

    Katsuki A, Sumida Y, Gabazza EC, Murashima S, Urakawa H, Morioka K, Kitagawa N, Tanaka T, Araki-Sasaki R, Hori Y, Nakatani K, Yano Y, Adachi Y: QUICKI is useful for following improvements in insulin sensitivity after therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. J Clin Endocrinol Metab87 :2906 eC2908,2002

    DeFronzo RA, Tobin JD, Andres R: Glucose clamp technique: a method for quantifying insulin secretion and resistance. Am J Physiol237 :E214 eCE223,1979

    Matthews DR, Hosker JP, Rudenski AS, Naylor BA, Treacher DF, Turner RC: Homeostasis model assessment: insulin resistance and -cell function from fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations in man. Diabetologia28 :412 eC419,1985

    Hanley AJ, Williams K, Gonzalez C, D’Agostino RB Jr, Wagenknecht LE, Stern MP, Haffner SM: Prediction of type 2 diabetes using simple measures of insulin resistance: combined results from the San Antonio Heart Study, the Mexico City Diabetes Study, and the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study. Diabetes52 :463 eC469,2003

    Hauache OM, Vieira JG: Fasting insulin concentration is highly correlated with quantitative insulin sensitivity check index. Endocrine21 :137 eC138,2003

    Yeckel CW, Weiss R, Dziura J, Taksali SE, Dufour S, Burgert TS, Tamborlane WV, Caprio S: Validation of insulin sensitivity indices from oral glucose tolerance test parameters in obese children and adolescents. J Clin Endocrinol Metab89 :1096 eC1101,2004

    Matsuda M, DeFronzo RA: Insulin sensitivity indices obtained from oral glucose tolerance testing: comparison with the euglycemic insulin clamp. Diabetes Care22 :1462 eC1470,1999

    Soonthornpun S, Setasuban W, Thamprasit A, Chayanunnukul W, Rattarasarn C, Geater A: Novel insulin sensitivity index derived from oral glucose tolerance test. J Clin Endocrinol Metab88 :1019 eC1023,2003

    Piatti PM, Monti LD, Caumo A, Santambrogio G, Magni F, Galli-Kienle M, Costa S, Pontiroli AE, Alberti KG, Pozza G: The continuous low dose insulin and glucose infusion test: a simplified and accurate method for the evaluation of insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion in population studies. J Clin Endocrinol Metab80 :34 eC40,1995

    Bergman RN: Lilly Lecture 1989: Toward physiological understanding of glucose tolerance: minimal-model approach. Diabetes38 :1512 eC1527,1989

    Bergman RN: The minimal model of glucose regulation: a biography. Adv Exp Med Biol537 :1 eC19,2003

    Katz A, Nambi SS, Mather K, Baron AD, Follmann DA, Sullivan G, Quon MJ: Quantitative insulin sensitivity check index: a simple, accurate method for assessing insulin sensitivity in humans. J Clin Endocrinol Metab85 :2402 eC2410,2000

    Mather KJ, Hunt AE, Steinberg HO, Paradisi G, Hook G, Katz A, Quon MJ, Baron AD: Repeatability characteristics of simple indices of insulin resistance: implications for research applications. J Clin Endocrinol Metab86 :5457 eC5464,2001

    Chen H, Sullivan G, Yue LQ, Katz A, Quon MJ: QUICKI is a useful index of insulin sensitivity in subjects with hypertension. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab284 :E804 eCE812,2003

    Kirwan JP, Huston-Presley L, Kalhan SC, Catalano PM: Clinically useful estimates of insulin sensitivity during pregnancy: validation studies in women with normal glucose tolerance and gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care24 :1602 eC1607,2001

    Perseghin G, Caumo A, Mazzaferro V, Pulvirenti A, Piceni Sereni L, Romito R, Lattuada G, Coppa J, Costantino F, Regalia E, Luzi L: Assessment of insulin sensitivity based on a fasting blood sample in men with liver cirrhosis before and after liver transplantation. Transplantation76 :697 eC702,2003

    Yokoyama H, Emoto M, Fujiwara S, Motoyama K, Morioka T, Komatsu M, Tahara H, Koyama H, Shoji T, Inaba M, Nishizawa Y: Quantitative insulin sensitivity check index and the reciprocal index of homeostasis model assessment are useful indexes of insulin resistance in type 2 diabetic patients with wide range of fasting plasma glucose. J Clin Endocrinol Metab89 :1481 eC1484,2004

    Yokoyama H, Emoto M, Fujiwara S, Motoyama K, Morioka T, Komatsu M, Tahara H, Shoji T, Okuno Y, Nishizawa Y: Quantitative insulin sensitivity check index and the reciprocal index of homeostasis model assessment in normal range weight and moderately obese type 2 diabetic patients. Diabetes Care26 :2426 eC2432,2003

    Bastard JP, Rabasa-Lhoret R, Maachi M, Ducluzeau PH, Andreelli F, Vidal H, Laville M: What kind of simple fasting index should be used to estimate insulin sensitivity in humans Diabetes Metab29 :285 eC288,2003

    Uwaifo GI, Fallon EM, Chin J, Elberg J, Parikh SJ, Yanovski JA: Indices of insulin action, disposal, and secretion derived from fasting samples and clamps in normal glucose-tolerant black and white children. Diabetes Care25 :2081 eC2087,2002

    Quon MJ, Cochran C, Taylor SI, Eastman RC: Direct comparison of standard and insulin modified protocols for minimal model estimation of insulin sensitivity in normal subjects. Diabetes Res25 :139 eC149,1994

    American Diabetes Association: Diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus (Position Statement). Diabetes Care27 (Suppl. 1) :S5 eCS10,2004

    Brown PJ: Measurement, Regression, and Calibration. Oxford, Oxford University Press,1993

    Efron B, Tibshirani RJ: An Introduction to the Bootstrap. London, Chapman & Hall/CRC,1998

    Straczkowski M, Stepien A, Kowalska I, Kinalska I: Comparison of simple indices of insulin sensitivity using the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp technique. Med Sci Monit10 :CR480 eCCR484,2004

    Skrha J, Haas T, Sindelka G, Prazny M, Widimsky J, Cibula D, Svacina S: Comparison of the insulin action parameters from hyperinsulinemic clamps with homeostasis model assessment and QUICKI indexes in subjects with different endocrine disorders. J Clin Endocrinol Metab89 :135 eC141,2004

    Katsuki A, Sumida Y, Gabazza EC, Murashima S, Furuta M, Araki-Sasaki R, Hori Y, Yano Y, Adachi Y: Homeostasis model assessment is a reliable indicator of insulin resistance during follow-up of patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care24 :362 eC365,2001

    Lansang MC, Williams GH, Carroll JS: Correlation between the glucose clamp technique and the homeostasis model assessment in hypertension. Am J Hypertens14 :51 eC53,2001

    Bonora E, Targher G, Alberiche M, Bonadonna RC, Saggiani F, Zenere MB, Monauni T, Muggeo M: Homeostasis model assessment closely mirrors the glucose clamp technique in the assessment of insulin sensitivity: studies in subjects with various degrees of glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Diabetes Care23 :57 eC63,2000

    Rajala U, Laakso M, Paivansalo M, Pelkonen O, Suramo I, Keinanen-Kiukaanniemi S: Low insulin sensitivity measured by both quantitative insulin sensitivity check index and homeostasis model assessment method as a risk factor of increased intima-media thickness of the carotid artery. J Clin Endocrinol Metab87 :5092 eC5097,2002

    Duncan GE, Hutson AD, Stacpoole PW: QUICKI does not accurately reflect changes in insulin sensitivity with exercise training. J Clin Endocrinol Metab86 :4115 eC4119,2001

    Quon MJ: QUICKI is a useful and accurate index of insulin sensitivity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab87 :949 eC951,2002

    Ascaso JF, Pardo S, Real JT, Lorente RI, Priego A, Carmena R: Diagnosing insulin resistance by simple quantitative methods in subjects with normal glucose metabolism. Diabetes Care26 :3320 eC3325,2003

    Karne RJ, Chen H, Quon MJ: Diagnosing insulin resistance by simple quantitative methods in subjects with normal glucose metabolism: response to Ascaso et al. (Letter). Diabetes Care27 :1247 eC1248 [author reply 1249],2004

    Quon MJ, Cochran C, Taylor SI, Eastman RC: Non-insulin-mediated glucose disappearance in subjects with IDDM: discordance between experimental results and minimal model analysis. Diabetes43 :890 eC896,1994

    Bergman RN, Prager R, Volund A, Olefsky JM: Equivalence of the insulin sensitivity index in man derived by the minimal model method and the euglycemic glucose clamp. J Clin Invest79 :790 eC800,1987

    Rabasa-Lhoret R, Bastard JP, Jan V, Ducluzeau PH, Andreelli F, Guebre F, Bruzeau J, Louche-Pellissier C, Maitrepierre C, Peyrat J, Chagne J, Vidal H, Laville M: Modified quantitative insulin sensitivity check index is better correlated to hyperinsulinemic glucose clamp than other fasting-based index of insulin sensitivity in different insulin-resistant states. J Clin Endocrinol Metab88 :4917 eC4923,2003(Hui Chen, Gail Sullivan, )