Homeostatic model assessment

The homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) is a method used to quantify insulin resistance and beta-cell function. It was first described under the name HOMA by Matthews et al in 1985.

Derivation

The HOMA authors used data from physiological studies to develop mathematical equations describing glucose regulation as a feedback loop. They published computer software that solves the equations, so that insulin resistance and beta-cell function can be estimated from fasting glucose and insulin levels. They also published an equation (see below) that gave approximately the same answers as an early version of the computer software. The computer model has since been improved to better reflect human physiology and recalibrated to modern insulin assays, and the developers have written that they recommend the computer software be used wherever possible.

Notes

The HOMA model was originally designed as a special case of a more general model called HOMA-CIGMA.

The approximating equation for insulin resistance, in the early model, used a fasting blood sample, and was derived by use of the insulin-glucose product, divided by a constant:

$frac\{mbox\{Glucose\}\; times\; mbox\{Insulin\}\}\{405\}$

where Glucose is given in mg/dL and Insulin is given in μU/mL.

In this equation, one should use the constant 22.5 instead of 405 if the glucose is reported in mmol/L. This model correlated well with estimates using the euglycemic clamp method (r = 0.88).

The authors have tested HOMA extensively against other measures of insulin resistance (or its reciprocal, insulin sensitivity) and beta-cell function.

References

External links

• http://www.dtu.ox.ac.uk/homa/