Effect of gender on insulin resistance associated with aging.

To examine whether age-related changes in energy metabolism are influenced by gender, 20 females and 20 males varying in age from 21 to 80 yr were studied with euglycemic insulin clamp in combination with indirect calorimetry and infusion of [3-3H]glucose. Lean body mass (LBM) was measured with the tritiated water technique. Fat percentage correlated with age in males (r = 0.60; P < 0.05) but not in females. Although the rates of insulin-stimulated total glucose disposal and nonoxidative glucose metabolism were similar in females and males, nonoxidative glucose metabolism expressed per kilogram body weight (r = -0.64; P < 0.01) or per kilogram LBM (r = -0.46; P < 0.05) was inversely correlated with age only in males. Basal metabolic rate expressed per kilogram body weight decreased with age in both sexes, but no correlation with age was observed when data were expressed per kilogram LBM. The data clearly demonstrate different effects of age on energy metabolism in males and females.