Membrane Capacitance from a Bioimpedance Approach: Associations with Insulin Resistance in Relatively Healthy Adults

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to determine whether higher membrane capacitance (C M ), a bioelectrical measure of cell membrane function, is associated with insulin resistance (IR) and/or metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods Cross‐sectional analyses were performed on 2,191 relatively healthy adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The C M of those with low/no disease risk was compared with those with IR, MetS, or both IR and MetS using ANCOVA. The associations between C M and related clinical measures were assessed with multiple linear regression. Results Compared with those with low/no risk, women and men with IR ( P < 0.001) and IR + MetS ( P < 0.001) had higher C M , whereas C M was similar in women ( P = 0.4526) and men ( P = 0.1126) with MetS alone. Positive associations with C M were seen with waist circumference (women and men standardized beta [STD‐β] = 0.18, P < 0.0001) and fasting insulin (women STD‐β = 0.15, P < 0.0001; men STD‐β = 0.12, P < 0.0001). Conclusions Higher C M was associated with IR in relatively healthy adults. In the absence of IR, higher C M was not associated with MetS as defined by its clinical diagnostic criteria. This study suggests that with further investigation, C M may be a potential tool to detect IR‐related cell membrane dysfunction.