To examine the associations between the urinary t, t-muconic acid (t, t-MA) concentration and three indices of insulin resistance; namely, the homeostasis assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index, blood insulin level and fasting glucose level.

A panel study was performed on the elderly at a public health care center population in the northern area of Seoul between 2008 and 2010. The participants were 560 elderly, over 60 years of age whose urinary t, t-MA and insulin resistance indices had been measured; questionnaires were completed by these participants. A generalized linear mixed (GLM) analysis was adjusted for age, sex, drinking, urinary cotinine, exercise, vitamin intake and body mass index, at a significance level of p<0.05.

A total of 411 participants were finally analyzed after excluding those with diabetes and only one visit to the public health care center. Higher urinary t, t-MA concentrations were linearly associated with the HOMA-IR index, blood insulin level and fasting glucose level in the simple and fully adjusted GLM models. Although there were few limitations, a portion of insulin resistance was proven to be explained by exposure to benzene using r-squared. A significant relationship was also observed between urinary t, t-MA and malondialdehyde (MDA) using the same GLM models.

Urinary t, t-MA is related to the development of insulin resistance which is a key factor for development of diabetes and its complications induced by oxidative stress.