Endoscopic indicators of insulin resistance: associations with erosive esophagitis and regular arrangement of collecting venules (RAC).

Introduction: Insulin resistance is a key factor in metabolic syndrome. Identifying indicators of insulin resistance through endoscopic findings could be valuable in assessing a patient's systemic metabolic status. Thus, we conducted a retrospective study to investigate the association between endoscopic findings and insulin resistance.

Methods: We reviewed 1,070 patients who underwent screening endoscopy with a rapid urease test at Bundang Jesaeng General Hospital from February 2023 to June 2023. Patients were classified based on insulin resistance using the Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA_IR). Propensity score matching was performed to adjust for baseline characteristics.

Results: After matching, 420 patients without insulin resistance and 210 with insulin resistance were selected. Endoscopic findings showed a significant association between insulin resistance and the presence of erosive esophagitis (p = 0.040). Furthermore, the severity of erosive esophagitis was positively correlated with the degree of insulin resistance, as indicated by an increased HOMA_IR. Multivariate analysis showed that erosive esophagitis significantly increased the risk of insulin resistance, while the presence of regular arrangement of collecting venules (RAC) was associated with a lower risk of insulin resistance.

Conclusion: Insulin resistance is significantly associated with specific endoscopic findings, particularly erosive esophagitis and the absence of RAC, suggesting associations that may be useful in guiding further research into endoscopic indicators of metabolic complications. Moreover, we observed a proportional relationship between the severity of erosive esophagitis and the degree of insulin resistance. Further research is needed to explore these associations.