Research

Hormonal

In patients with Type II diabetes and fasting hyperglycemia, insulin resistance is caused by both decreased insulin receptors AND a postreceptor defect, leading to a reduced maximal rate of glucose disposal.

For those with established Type II diabetes, simply lowering insulin levels (if possible) or increasing receptor sensitivity is not enough because the cells' internal ability to process glucose is also damaged. Treatment must address both the signaling issue (receptors) and the internal processing issue (postreceptor defects), often requiring medication that bypasses or enhances these pathways.

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In patients with fasting hyperglycemia, insulin resistance is due to both decreased insulin receptors and a postreceptor defect in the glucose disposal mechanisms.
Orville Kolterman et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 1981

Why this rating

Gold-standard euglycemic clamp technique confirms the reduction in maximal glucose disposal rate (Rd max) in diabetic subjects.

Source

Receptor and postreceptor defects contribute to the insulin resistance in noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Orville Kolterman et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 1981

DOI 10.1172/jci110350

mechanism_only · n=45Cited 637×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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