Surgical removal of visceral fat reverses hepatic insulin resistance.

We directly examined whether visceral fat (VF) modulates hepatic insulin action by randomizing moderately obese (body wt approximately 400 g) Sprague-Dawley rats to either surgical removal of epididymal and perinephric fat pads (VF-; n = 9) or a sham operation (VF+; n = 11). Three weeks later, total VF was fourfold increased (8.5 +/- 1.2 vs. 2.1 +/- 0.3 g, P < 0.001) in the VF+ compared with the VF- group, but whole-body fat mass (determined...