Dietary fat quality may influence skeletal muscle lipid handling and fat accumulation, thereby modulating insulin sensitivity. Objective: To examine acute effects of meals with various fatty acid (FA) compositions on skeletal muscle FA handling and postprandial insulin sensitivity in obese insulin resistant men. Design: In a single-blinded randomized crossover study, 10 insulin resistant men consumed three high-fat mixed-meals (2.6MJ). Meals were high in saturated FA (SFA), in monounsaturated FA (MUFA) or in polyunsaturated FA (PUFA). Fasting and postprandial skeletal muscle FA handling were examined by measuring arterio-venous concentration differences across forearm muscle. [2H2]-palmitate was infused intravenously to label endogenous triacylglycerol (TAG) and FFA in the circulation and [U-13C]-palmitate was added to the meal to label chylomicron-TAG. Skeletal muscle biopsies were taken to assess intramuscular lipid metabolism and gene expression. Results: Insulin and glucose responses (AUC) after SFA meal were significantly higher compared with PUFA meal (p=0.003 and 0.028, respectively). Uptake of TAG-derived FA was significantly lower in the early postprandial phase after PUFA meal as compared with other meals (AUC60-120, p<0.001). The PUFA meal induced less transcriptional downregulation of oxidative pathways compared with other meals. The fractional synthetic rate was higher in DAG and PL fraction after MUFA and PUFA meal. Conclusion: Intake of a PUFA meal reduced TAG-derived skeletal muscle FA uptake, which was accompanied by higher postprandial insulin sensitivity and a tendency towards a higher muscle lipid turnover. These data suggest that the effects of replacement of SFA by PUFA may contribute to less muscle lipid uptake and may be therefore protective against the development of insulin resistance.
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