Acylcarnitines

The incidence of obesity and insulin resistance is growing, and the increase in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) constitutes one of the biggest challenges for our healthcare systems. Many theories are proposed for the induction of insulin resistance in glucose and lipid metabolism and its metabolic sequelae. One of these mechanisms is lipotoxicity (1–4): excess lipid supply and subsequent lipid accumulation in insulin-sensitive tissues such as skeletal muscle interfere with insulin-responsive metabolic pathways. Various lipid intermediates, like ceramides, gangliosides, diacylglycerol, and other metabolites, have been held responsible for insulin resistance (2,3,5–10). These intermediates can exert such effects…