Research
Hormonal
Skeletal muscle glycogen synthase activation is a critical determinant of insulin-mediated glucose disposal, and defects in this enzyme's activation by insulin (rather than glucose uptake alone) contribute to insulin resistance.
Exercise and diet improve insulin sensitivity partly by improving glycogen synthase function. Since this enzyme is activated by insulin, maintaining insulin sensitivity is key to efficient glucose storage as glycogen.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
These studies indicate that activation of glycogen synthase is dependent on insulin stimulation, rather than glucose uptake per se... it seems possible that a specific genetic defect that determines insulin resistance in many individuals may be located at a step between the insulin receptor and glycogen synthase activation.
Why this rating
Direct measurement of enzyme activity and correlation with clamp data.
Source
Obesity and insulin resistance: Lessons learned from the Pima indians
Stephen Lillioja et al. · Diabetes/Metabolism Reviews · 1988
DOI 10.1002/dmr.5610040508
narrative_review · n=213Cited 202×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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