Arcot Thanjan Maaran1 , Parthasarathy Prathiba2
BACKGROUND
Insulin resistance represents an insensitivity of peripheral tissues to the effect of
insulin. Obese individuals with insulin resistance have shown increased prevalence
of abnormalities of glucose metabolism. Given that insulin resistance represents
an important risk factor for development of type 2 diabetes. Identification of adults
with insulin resistance has been proposed as a strategy for identifying high risk
adult for targeted diabetes prevention intervention.
METHODS
We performed a cross sectional observational study on obese patients between 20
and 50 years of age attending the Outpatient Department of General Medicine at
Government Vellore Medical College and Hospital for minor ailments during the
period July 2017 to December 2017.
RESULTS
Of the 100 obese individuals, acanthosis nigricans was present in about 61
individuals. There is an increase in insulin resistance with an increase in the class
of acanthosis nigricans. Skin tags are present in about 60 individuals. Individuals
with skin tags have significantly high HOMA-IR when compared with that of
individuals without skin tags.
CONCLUSIONS
Acanthosis nigricans and skin tags are markers of insulin resistance and insulin
resistance increases quantitatively with increasing grades of acanthosis nigricans
