Laboratory tests
BEN
INSULIN SENSITIVITY, INSULIN RESISTANCE, INSULIN SENSITIVITY
At the start of the study (baseline) and six months, venous blood samples were collected after an overnight fast for biochemical assessments: fasting plasma glucose, lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol), creatinine, uric acid and hepatic enzymes, as well as a second blood sample taken 2 h after the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), and the values were recorded. In addition, fasting insulin concentrations were also measured.The fasting glucose and insulin concentrations were calculated for each subject on two separate occasions: at baseline and 5 min. To calculate the insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), insulin secretion index (HOMA-β) and insulin sensitivity indexes (IS), the averages of the fasting glucose and insulin values were obtained at baseline and after 5 min.The insulin resistance index was calculated using the Matthews homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR) (fasting insulin μU/ml x fasting glucose mmol/l / 22.5) [Three indirect indices were used to calculate the insulin sensitivity (IS). They were calculated according to the following formulae:Quantitative Insulin Sensitivity Check Index (QUICKI) = 1 / [log fasting insulinBennett index (BEN) = 1 / (log fasting insulinRaynaud index (RAY) = [40 / fasting insulinFasting and 2-h plasma glucose and lipid profile, including total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, in addition to creatinine and uric acid (UA), as well as hepatic enzymes and haemoglobin, were measured enzymatically using a biochemistry analyser (Mindray BS-200E, China) using commercial kits from C.P.M. Diagnostic Research (Italy) (The fasting plasma insulin concentration was measured by immunoradiometric assay (IRMA, Izotop, Hungary) (